Methods and systems for an alternative payment platform

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for providing an alternative payment platform, including method and systems for providing a platform for presenting an alternate offer to a user who is engaged with a primary offer and receiving an indication of the user&#39;s engagement with the alternate offer, wherein the user&#39;s engagement with the alternate offer serves as an alternative form of payment for an item associated with the primary offer. Such methods and systems may further include methods and systems for selecting one or more alternate offers engagement with which serves as an alternative form of payment for an item associated with a primary offer, presenting the selected alternate payment offers to a user, receiving an indication of engagement with at least one of the alternate offers, receiving payment in exchange for presenting the accepted offer and providing payment to the offeror of the primary offer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the following provisionalapplications, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety:

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/820,701 filed Jul. 28, 2006; U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/825,885 filed Sep. 15, 2006; U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/868,767 filed Dec. 6, 2006; U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/869,899 filed Dec. 13, 2006; and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/914,298 filed Apr. 26, 2007.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This invention generally relates to payment for products or services.The invention specifically relates to methods and systems that enableproviding an alternate form of payment for products or services.

2. Background

Existing systems for lead generation in advertising of products andservices have drawbacks that either result in diminishing marginalreturn, or inefficacy. Acquiring access to high quality leads that havea relevance to the product or service being advertised or promoted isconsidered of higher value than less relevant or random leads.

In addition, on-line response to advertisements, offers, and promotionscontinues to support increasingly higher levels of spending byadvertisers, and product or service providers, for high quality leads.This has led to an increasing shift to online direct marketing from allsegments of the marketplace. Recent annual spending in this segmentincreased substantially.

Meanwhile, consumers continue to seek ways of acquiring goods andservices, such as software and other digital goods and services, atlower prices, or for free. In particular, many consumers are notaccustomed to paying for premium content and services online, such assoftware, publications, games, etc, especially since there are many freealternatives. For many online goods and services, especially digitalproducts where the marginal cost of additional production is negligibleor zero and the digital item is not tangible, a fair economic value ofthese goods and services is hard for the consumer to quantify. Thismakes a traditional purchase decision difficult. Also, there is aphenomenon of comparative taste; that is, the willingness of customersto pay for particular goods and services varies from customer tocustomer. One customer may be willing to pay full price for one item butunwilling to pay at all for another item, while for a second customerthe situation may be reversed. Thus, the demand for a particular itemreflects a distribution of prices at which particular customers arewilling to pay for the item, ranging from zero to the highest price thatany single customer would be willing to pay. For goods and services withrespect to which the marginal cost of production is negligible, amerchant would ideally like to differentiate among these customers,charging each one of them a price that reflects the extent of thatparticular customer's demand. This distribution of demand also resultsin merchants valuing different customers differently. A particular typeof customer may be highly attractive to one merchant, because thatcustomer places a premium on that merchant's offerings, while the samecustomer may not be attractive for another merchant, because theopposite is true with respect to that merchant's offerings. Thus,applicant has recognized that a need exists for methods and systems thatallow merchants to provide an opportunity for customers with lowwillingness to pay to for one merchant's item to engage with othermerchants (advertisers) for whom the customers have a higher willingnessto pay for the alternate merchant items, and visa versa. In this way,both the original and secondary merchants benefit from the customer'sdifferentiated tastes (willingness to pay for one item over another).

A need also exists for methods and systems that facilitate gainingaccess to high quality leads by online advertisers and others whobenefit from these leads and for allowing consumers to benefit from suchaccess by participating in favorable offers for such goods and services.Stated from the perspective of the vendor, there is a need to “monetize”non-paying users who are unwilling to use traditional payment methods toaccess premium goods and services online and to establish an alternativepayment mechanism that enables these users to barter other sources ofvalue (such as customer demographics) not catered for in traditionalpayment methods.

SUMMARY

Provided herein are methods and systems for alternative payments ofproducts or services. An alternative payment platform as hereindescribed may provide an advertiser with access to high-value customers.The alternative payment platform may provide benefit to a wide range ofmarkets such as online services, online content providers, softwareproducts, shareware, information services, online retailers, financialservices, publishers, online games, virtual goods, and the like. Formany online goods and services, especially digital products where themarginal cost of additional production is negligible or zero, the true(economic) value of these goods and services is hard for the consumer toquantify. This makes a traditional purchase decision difficult. In somecases, an alternative payment method enables a customer to exchange amore tangible item for the intangible digital product. For example, acustomer looking to purchase an online subscription to a newspaper, mayinstead elect to sign-up for a weekly wine club (at much greater cost),since the value of the tangible goods (i.e. wine) is clearly quantified.An alternative payment platform may facilitate a product or servicevendor receiving compensation for providing products, premium goods, orservices to users who are unwilling to use traditional payment methodsto access the premium goods and services. The alternative paymentplatform may also enable these merchants to exchange other sources ofvalue, such as customer demographics, that are not supported intraditional payment methods for products, premium goods, or services.

The alternative payment platform may offer a high degree of scalabilityas it may be integrated with any type of e-commerce transaction. Thealternative payment platform may facilitate optimizing alternativepayment offer selection for vendors. This optimization may be performedlocally for each vendor. It may also be performed across a plurality ofvendors associated with the payment platform, such that the benefits ofoptimization may accrue to all parties associated with the platform.

The alternative payment platform may make readily available to users asubstantial number of ways to pay for a product or service that are notavailable today. It may allow a user to directly receive value forengaging with a secondary offeror, such as by trying or buying somethingfrom the secondary offeror or perhaps by simply providing hisdemographic and contact information in association with a product orservice offering.

Terms such as “merchant,” “offeror,” “vendor,” “seller,” and“advertiser,” are used herein to refer to any parties who engage in thebusiness of offering goods, products, services, or other items, such asby sales, leases, licenses, or other forms of transaction, whetherconducted by electronic commerce, digital commerce, offline commerce, orother channels. Use of one such term should be understood to encompassthe others, except where context indicates otherwise. Without limitationof the foregoing, the terms “merchant” and “primary offeror” are used inmost cases herein to refer interchangeably to a party who offers aprimary offer, such as an offer to sell an item or bundle of items at aprice or prices, while the terms “advertiser” and “secondary offeror”are used interchangeably herein in most cases to refer to a party whoprovides an alternative to the primary offer. Such alternatives to aprimary offer may include alternatives to provide the item of theprimary offer upon different terms and conditions, such as upondifferent payment terms, or may refer to a completely different itemfrom an unrelated merchant and are referred to herein interchangeably as“alternative offers,” “alternative payment offers,” and “secondaryoffers.” Terms such as “secondary offer,” “secondary offering,”“alternative offer,” “alternative offering,” “alternative paymentoffer,” “alternative payment offering,” “alternate offer,” “alternateoffering,” “discount offer,” “discount offering,” and the like should beunderstood as various species of secondary or alternative offer, andexcept where context indicates otherwise, it should be understood thatin various embodiments described herein one such species may besubstituted for another, resulting in additional alternative embodimentsof the methods and systems disclosed herein.

Methods and systems are provided for providing an alternative paymentplatform, including method and systems for providing a platform forpresenting an alternate offer to a user who is engaged with a primaryoffer and receiving an indication of the user's engagement with thealternate offer, wherein the user's engagement with the alternate offerserves as an alternative form of payment for an item associated with theprimary offer. Such methods and systems may further include methods andsystems for selecting one or more alternate offers engagement with whichserves as an alternative form of payment for an item associated with aprimary offer, presenting the selected alternate payment offers to auser, receiving an indication of engagement with at least one of thealternate offers, receiving payment in exchange for presenting theaccepted offer and providing payment to the offeror of the primaryoffer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The systems and methods described herein may be understood by referenceto the following figures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram with components of an alternative paymentplatform.

FIG. 2 depicts a flow diagram of activities associated with analternative payment platform.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of additional details of an alternativepayment platform.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of steps associated with an alternatepayment platform.

FIG. 5 shows a table depicting various facilitator payments.

FIG. 6 depicts a screen in which a vendor makes an item available.

FIG. 7 depicts a product confirmation screen.

FIG. 8 depicts a help screen.

FIG. 9 depicts a user contact input screen.

FIG. 10 depicts a default screen of offerings.

FIG. 11 depicts a list of all offerings screen.

FIG. 12 depicts a category filter menu of the screen of FIG. 8.

FIG. 13 depicts a country filter menu of the screen of FIG. 8.

FIG. 14 depicts the screen of FIG. 8 with an offer title selected.

FIG. 15 depicts an offer selection confirmation screen.

FIG. 16 depicts a block diagram of an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 17 depicts a block diagram of an offer optimization.

FIG. 18 depicts a block diagram of a user interface.

FIG. 19 depicts a block diagram of a discount offer.

FIG. 20 depicts a block diagram of a method of taking bids for placementof secondary offerings.

FIG. 21 depicts a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of analternative payment platform.

FIG. 22 depicts a block diagram related to timing or position of anoffer in an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 23 depicts a block diagram of a method of consumer valueoptimization associated with an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 24 depicts a block diagram of customer differentiation associatedwith an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 25 depicts a block diagram of steps for maintaining consumerprivacy in offer fulfillment.

FIG. 26 depicts a block diagram of method of using a digital accountassociated with an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 27 depicts a block diagram of a service extension method associatedwith an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 28 depicts a block diagram of a method of using receipts associatedwith an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 29 depicts a block diagram of a method of preventing fraudassociated with an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 30 shows a user interface screen in which a user is presented withan opportunity to view alternate offers.

FIG. 31 depicts a screen that a user views upon initially interactingwith an alternative payment platform.

FIG. 32 depicts an offer selection screen a user receives after enteringdetails at the screen depicted in FIG. 31.

FIG. 33 depicts a user choosing an alternate offer.

FIG. 34 depicts an awaiting verification screen.

FIG. 35 depicts an email a user may receive on registering with thealternative payment platform.

FIG. 36 shows a message describing how to interact with the alternativepayment platform to obtain a primary offer.

FIG. 37 depicts an email notification to a user.

FIG. 38 shows a user account log in screen.

FIG. 39 shows a screen summarizing completed transactions.

FIG. 40 shows a screen summarizing pending transactions.

FIG. 41 depicts an interface screen with instructions about how tosubmit a receipt.

FIG. 42 depicts an interface screen to submit a receipt.

FIG. 43 depicts a screen in which a user updates account details.

FIG. 44 depicts a screen in which a user updates a password.

FIG. 45 depicts a screen in which a free trial download is offered.

FIG. 46 depicts a screen in which an upgrade from a free version to apremium version is offered.

FIG. 47 depicts a screen in which in upgrade from a free account to apremium account is offered.

FIG. 48 depicts a screen in which a user abandons a shopping cart orleaves a website.

FIG. 49 depicts a screen in which a user abandons a shopping cart.

FIG. 50 depicts a post-transaction or post-action offer associated withan alternative payment platform.

FIG. 51 depicts a download screen.

FIG. 52 shows a screen depicting various purchase methods.

FIG. 53 shows a screen depicting an alternative payment method alongsidetraditional payment methods.

FIG. 54 shows a screen depicting an e-mail campaign in which analternative payment method is offered.

FIG. 55 shows a screen depicting a winback e-mail campaign.

FIG. 56 shows a screen depicting themed e-mail campaigns.

FIG. 57 shows a screen depicting an automated e-mail.

FIG. 58 shows an order confirmation screen.

FIG. 59 shows a screen depicting uninstalls and in-product messaging.

FIG. 60 shows a screen depicting an in product expired trial.

FIG. 61 shows a screen depicting examples of uninstall messaging.

FIG. 62 shows a screen depicting in-product messaging.

FIG. 63 shows a screen depicting an advertiser panel dashboard.

FIG. 64 shows a screen depicting an advertiser panel.

FIG. 65 shows a screen depicting an advertiser panel.

FIG. 66 shows a screen depicting a transaction report.

FIG. 67 shows an advertiser performance panel, in which an advertiser ispresented with performance statistics associated with the performance ofalternate offers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows roles of certain entities that interact in the use of analternative payment platform 100 as described herein. A facilitator 150facilitates interaction of merchants, or primary offerors 144,advertisers, or secondary offerors 148, and users 154 (referred tointerchangeably herein as consumers). The merchant, or primary offeror144, makes an offer 164, such as an offer of an item 182 at a price 184.A user 154 may initially engage with the merchant 144, such as toconsider whether to purchase the item 182 at the price 184, such as byviewing the item at the merchant's website; however, for variousreasons, such as unwillingness to pay the full price 184 of the item182, the user 154 may be reluctant to complete the transaction with themerchant 144. Meanwhile, various advertisers, or secondary offerors 148,may introduce alternate offers 160 into the marketplace, such as forother items 190. Those secondary offerors 148 may be willing to offer aneconomic compensation (such as a payment) to engage with user 154. Thisis particularly true in cases where the advertiser perceives that itwill receive a significant benefit from having the opportunity to engagewith the user 154, such as to establish the user 154 as a long-timecustomer of the advertiser 148. In various preferred embodiments of themethods and systems disclosed herein, the facilitator 150 (referred tointerchangeably herein as the host) may manage an alternative paymentplatform 100 to enable advertisers 148 to engage with user 154 in returnfor an appropriate economic compensation which the facilitator 150 mayuse to adjust the price 184 of item 182, thus providing an incentive forthe user 154 to engage with advertiser 148 and may also use tocompensate the merchant 144 for such price adjustment and for allowingthe advertiser 148 to engage with the user 154. The facilitator 150 maypresent relevant alternate offers 160 to users 154, thereby enabling theusers 154 to obtain desired items 182 on alternative terms, such as on adiscounted or free basis. The facilitator 150 may further facilitate anexchange of value among the facilitator 150, the advertiser 148 and themerchant 144, such as by debiting the advertiser 148, retaining anamount for the facilitator 150 and crediting the merchant 144. Thus,each party obtains a benefit from the facilitation of the alternativepayment transaction. The merchant 144 receives a payment/credit,notwithstanding the reluctance of the user 154 to transact with themerchant 144. The advertiser 148 obtains the opportunity to engage witha user 154, such as to increase participation in trial programs offeredby the advertiser 148, or the like. The user 154 obtains a desired item182 on favorable terms, such as on a discounted or free basis. Thefacilitator 150 receives payment from the advertiser for presenting thealternate offer 160 and/or enabling the user 154 to engage with thealternative offer 160.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the facilitator 150 may optionally undertakevarious activities in managing the alternative payment platform 100,such as searching for or identifying alternate offers 160, managing theprocess by which advertisers 148 are given the opportunity to presentalternate offers 160 to users 154 (such as by conducting a biddingprocess, or the like), analyzing various parameters associated withalternate offers 160, such as to optimize the selection, timing,placement, and the like of particular alternate offers 160 to users 154,presenting alternate offers 160 to users 154 (such as in an ecommerceenvironment of the original merchant 144 or in a different environment),and facilitating the completion of the transaction among the user 154,advertiser 148 and merchant 144 (such as managing payment details,fulfillment, allocation of debits and credits, handling of receipts,prevention of fraud and other problems, and the like).

Referring to FIG. 2, a flow diagram 250 shows certain actions that takeplace in the context of an alternative payment platform 100 in oneembodiment of an interaction of a merchant 144, advertiser 148 and user154 with a platform managed by a facilitator 150. At a step 252, amerchant 144 offers a primary offer 164, such as offering an item 182 ata price, and a user 154 initially engages with the primary offer 164 ata step 254, such as by viewing the merchant's 144 presentation of theprimary offer 164 at the merchant's 144 website, in an email, or thelike. Meanwhile, advertisers 148 offer various alternate offers 160 at astep 260. The facilitator 150 analyzes the various alternate offers 160at a step 258. The facilitator 150, undertaking various actionsdescribed in more detail elsewhere herein, may select one or morealternate offers 160 at a step 262. Upon selection at the step 262, thealternate offer(s) 160 may be presented to the user 154 at a step 264.The user 154 may respond to the alternate offer 160 at a step 268 and,in one preferred embodiment, may engage with the advertiser 148 at astep 270, such as by engaging in a free trial program with respect toanother item 190, purchasing another item 190, or some other engagement,such as providing personal information, completing a survey orquestionnaire, registering interest and/or a willingness to be contactedby advertiser 148 regarding another item 190 (users' 154 variousreactions to alternate offers 160 being collectively referred to hereinas a secondary offer communications 158). Subsequent to engagement ofthe user 154 with the advertiser, the facilitator 150 may give themerchant 144 a credit 140 or payment at a step 272 (such as upon thefacilitator's 150 receiving an indication of the user's 154 engagementwith the alternate offer 160). At a step 274 the user may receive thebenefit associated with the alternate offer 160 (such as receiving theitem 182 on a discounted or free basis). At a step 278 the facilitator150 may retain a benefit, such as a credit, fee, or the like. At a step280 the advertiser 148 may receive a debit 142 or make a payment (suchpayment/debit obligation being optionally triggered by the user's 154having engaged with the advertiser 148, the advertiser 148 having theopportunity to present the alternate offer 160, or other conditions).

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, additional details are provided with respectto optional components of an alternative payment platform 100 andvarious actions that may optionally take place in the context of suchalternative payment platform 100. Such components and steps may includea facilitator 150, a primary vendor 144, a secondary offeror 148, aprimary offer 164, an alternate offer 160, a debit 142, and a credit140. Upon notification by the secondary offeror 148 that a user 154 hasengaged with the secondary offeror 148, such as by accepting analternate offer 160, the facilitator 150 may coordinate activitiesassociated with authorizing delivery of an item 182 associated with theprimary offer 164 and facilitating a credit 140. The secondary offeror148 may make available, through the alternative payment platform 100,one or more alternate offers 160 for the user 154, which, with theassistance of the facilitator 150, may be associated with the primaryoffer 164. The secondary offeror 148 may accept engagement by a user154, such as acceptance/completion of an alternate offer 160 by a user154 and make a payment, which may be retained in part and distributed inpart by the facilitator 150. It should be noted that completion of analternate offer 160 may result from varying degrees of engagement withthe alternate offer 160. For example, completion may involve merelyviewing the alternate offer 160, taking an action required with respectto the alternate offer 160, accepting the alternate offer 160 (such asthereby binding the user 154 to undertake some action), or other actionspecified by the secondary offeror 148 with respect to the alternateoffer 160. In a preferred embodiment, the user 154 may receive the item182 associated with the primary offer 164 from the facilitator 150 inexchange for engaging with the secondary offeror 148, such as completingan alternative offer 160. In this case, the user benefit described inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may be a one hundred percent discount or some othermechanism to allow the user 154 to receive, activate, extend or makepermanent his use of the item 182 associated with the primary offer 164,such as and without limitation for the activation, extension, orpermanent use thereof. In embodiments, the primary offer 164 mayencompass any and all products or services. Any and all references to a“product” may, without limitation, refer to a product and/or service.Likewise, any and all references to a “service” may refer to a productand/or service.

An alternate form of primary offer 164 may be an authorization for anadjustment in a purchase price of the primary offer 164. The adjustmentmay be immediate, allowing the user 154 to complete the purchase at areduced price, or it may be a reimbursement such as a rebate. In thisway, a user 154 may choose to receive the product or service at areduced price in exchange for completing one or more alternative paymentsecondary offers 160. The resulting purchase transaction may include acombination of an alternative payment and a traditional payment.

A facilitator 150 may use a secondary offer consolidator 180 to assistwith identification and consolidation of alternate offers 160. Such aconsolidator 180 may be an advertising network manager, an advertisementplacement manager, or similar party, or may use or comprise asoftware-based service for consolidating alternate offers 160 and mayact on behalf of the offerors with regard to the alternate paymentplatform 100. Such a consolidator 180 may charge a fee for consolidatingoffers 160.

The primary vendor 144 may make available a primary offer 164 fordownload 104 or other delivery to the user 154 and may receive credit140 once the secondary offeror 148 notifies the facilitator 150 that theconsumer 154 has successfully completed one or more secondary offers160. Such notification may be provided from the secondary offeror 148 tothe facilitator 150 as a separate transaction, or the notification maybe encompassed in the debit 142. The facilitator 150 pays the primaryvendor 144 an amount specified by the primary vendor 144 or agreed bythe primary vendor 144 and facilitator 150. Upon delivery to the user154 of the item 182 associated with the primary offer 164, the primaryvendor 144 may notify the facilitator 150 such that the facilitator 150may confirm that the user 154 has received the benefit promised forengaging with the alternate offer 160.

The credit 140 paid to the primary vendor 144 may include a fixedportion related to a retail cost or other cost such as a minimum primaryoffer 164 price. The credit 140 paid to the primary vendor 144 mayinclude a variable portion related to a profit earned by the facilitator150 from debit 142 by the secondary offeror 148. The variable amount maybe based upon various factors, such as the number of primary offers 148for which the facilitator 150 has arranged alternate offers 160, theeconomics associated with the alternate offers 160, and the like, or apercentage of the profit, for example. The price paid may be based on anestimated profit, an estimated debit 142, an actual profit, an actualdebit 142, and other estimated or actual financial factors associatedwith the alternate payment platform 100, such as fees, secondary offerconsolidator 180 charges, and the like. The credit 140 may be adjustedbased on prior credits 140 and actual financial factors related to theprimary vendor 144, primary offer 164, user 154, secondary offeror 148,alternate offer 160, other participants, and the like. In an example, acredit 140 may be reduced because a prior credit 140 paid to the primaryvendor 144 was based on an estimated debit 142 that turned out to behigher than the actual debit 142.

The financial terms of an alternate payment transaction, such as thecredit 140 to the primary offeror 144, the debit 142 to the secondaryofferor 148, the amount retained by the facilitator 150, and the likemay be determined by agreement between the facilitator 150 of thealternate payment platform 100, the secondary offeror 148 and theprimary vendor 144 in advance of an alternate offer 160 being presented.However, the agreement may include variable pricing, wherein the amountpaid may be determined at the time the alternate offer 160 is accepted(such as during the user 154 checkout process). This may allow a primaryvendor 144 to differentiate pricing based on attributes of the user 154,such as geography (consumers in low GDP per capita countries pay lessfor the product/service than consumers in high GPD per capitalcountries) or user 154 credit worthiness (consumers with greaterpropensity to select higher-end offers will result in higher payments tothe primary vendor 144 than consumers who select lower-end offers). Theprimary vendor 144 may elect to adjust the amount to be paid by thealternate payment platform 100 based on an aspect of the user 154.

The price paid may be based on an algorithm that may facilitatescalability of the platform. The algorithm may accept inputs related tothe primary offer 164, the primary vendor 144, and the like. Theseinputs may introduce ambiguity, such as default versus custom paymentsand margin-based versus fixed-dollar payments, that may be resolved bylogic associated with the algorithm. Aspects of offers and vendors maybe classified to facilitate determining logic for resolving suchambiguity and for determining payment amounts. Offers may be classifiedas margin-based payments that may automatically base the margin oneconomies associated with the alternate offer 160, the secondary offerconsolidator 180, and the like.

In certain optional embodiments, offers may be associated withmargin-based payments that include customization on an offer-specificbasis, or fixed-dollar payments, which may also include customization onan offer-specific basis. Vendor payment aspects that may impact thelogic may be classified as a base case, wherein no additional vendorcriteria are required to determine the payment. Other vendorclassifications include non-standard aligned classifications, wherein aprimary vendor 144 may define custom payment criteria while remainingaligned with an alternate offer 160 related payment paradigm; custommargins, wherein a primary vendor 144 defines a fully custom marginscheme that may be independent of alternate offer 160 or secondaryofferor 148 related economies; and flat payout (fixed pricing), whereina primary vendor 144 requires a fixed payment per transaction tofacilitate avoiding impact on payments caused by other variables. Theseclassifications are only exemplary and are not meant to be limiting. Thealgorithms, logic, classifications, and other aspects of primary vendor144 payments should be considered extensible so that additionalclassifications may be introduced and supported. Resolution of theambiguities herein described may be based, at least in part, on a rulestable that may include offer parameters, vendor parameters, and thelike. Additionally, the platform 100 may support fully customizedpayments that may be applied. Such customized payments may be configuredto override or work in cooperation with the algorithms associated withpayments.

Changes to primary vendor 144 payment rules may be incorporated into therules tables, algorithms, customized payments, and the like. Thefollowing exemplifies one of many possible payment configurations.

Payment Table Offer type Offer 1; Offer 2; Offer3; Revenue $20 Revenue$20 Revenue $90 Secondary Custom Fixed Vendor type margin 20% margin 25%payout $50 Small Co; $20 × 80% = $16 $20 × 75% = $15 $50 Big Co; custom$20 × 85% = $17 $20 × 75% = $15 $50 margin 15% Strong Co; fixed $20 ×90% = $18 $20 × 90% = $18 $90 × 90% = margin 10% $81 Fixed Co; fixed $10$10 $10 payment $10

In the previous table, payment ambiguity is resolved by entries in thetable, such as when offer type 2 custom margin overrides vendor Big Cocustom margin, resulting in Big Co receiving $17 for offer 1, but only$15 for offer 2.

To facilitate an administrator of the platform 100, or a vendoraccessing the platform 100 managing the payment algorithms, logic,rules, and the like, one or more of the following screens may beincluded in one or more interfaces of the platform 100: payouts for alloffers associated with a specific vendor, payouts for all vendorsassociated with a specific offer, configuration of vendor rules andparameters, configuration of offer rules and parameters, override screentriggered by a change to an offer (e.g. a change to the offerclassification), override screen triggered by a change to a vendor (e.g.a new vendor classification), offer record screen to create linkage withone or more of these screens, and vendor record screen to create linkagewith one or more of these screens.

The payment module 108 may record indications of events associated withalternate offers 160, such as notifications that various activities havetaken place respect to offers (such as engagement with alternate offers160, acceptance of alternate offers 160, approval of alternate offers160 (where approval is necessary), or completion of alternate offers,such that upon occurrence of relevant events or activities, each primaryvendor 144 may receive the credit 140 herein disclosed. The vendorpayment facility may perform a financial payment transaction to aprimary vendor 144 account, such as and without limitation a bankaccount, for an amount associated with any and all accumulated offernotifications. This financial payment transaction may occur upon offernotifications, from time to time, periodically, and so forth.

The debit 142 from the secondary offeror 148 may include a fixed portionrelated to the alternate offer 160 or related to the primary offer 164with which the alternate offer 160 is associated. The fixed portion maybe set by the secondary offeror 148 or the facilitator 150. The debit142 may include a variable amount such as an amount based on the numberof new users 154 who complete an alternate offer 160 with the secondaryofferor 148. The variable amount may be based on a quality of the user154 completing the alternate offer 160. The quality of the user 154 mayinclude a user characteristic such as a user demographic. Commissionbased secondary offers 160 may require an adjustable debit 142 whereinthe amount debited from the secondary offeror 148 is calculated at thetime the alternate offer 160 is executed. A credit 140 resulting from acommission based alternate offer 160 may also be variably based at leastin part on the commission of the alternate offer 160. The payment module108 may perform the calculations and issue the debit 142 and credit 140accordingly.

The alternative payment platform 100 may include a primary offer 164that may be coordinated by the facilitator 150 and the primary vendor144. The user 154 may receive the ability to obtain access to the item182 associated with the primary offer 164, such as receiving anauthorization code, a serial number, product authorization key, link todownload an authorized copy of the product, and the like upon completingan alternate offer 160. The user 154 may receive an email, instantmessage, phone call, fax, or other communication from the facilitator150 or primary vendor 144 with details on how to access, retrieve,activate and/or make use of the primary offer 164.

To receive the authorization from the primary vendor 144, thefacilitator 150 may request product authorization from the vendor byproviding user 154 information to the primary vendor 144 to facilitatesending the primary offer 164. The information may include the user's154 email address, first and last name, unique customer id (i.e. foradditional tracking), and so forth. The facilitator 150 may also sendthe primary vendor 144 product identification, a random number, asecurity code for validating the request for product authorizationconfirming the request is from the facilitator 150. The security codemay be a SHA1 encryption of a concatenation of the random number, theuser's 154 email address, and a vendor security passkey. The vendorsecurity passkey may be a unique identifier known only to the primaryvendor 144 and the facilitator 150. The primary vendor 144 may specifythis to the facilitator 150 or the facilitator 150 may provide this tothe primary vendor 144 separately from a product authorization request.The request for authorization may be provided in the form of a GET orPOST command issued to a script such as a (PHP or Perl script) on theprimary vendor's 144 website for automatically generating theauthorization. Such a script may create database or logfile entries ofthe command and authorization for purposes of record keeping.

In order to allow the facilitator 150 to provide authorization to a user154 to allow the user 154 to use the item 190 associated with analternate offer 160, the primary vendor 144 may provide to thefacilitator 150 information that allows access to the item 182associated with each primary offer 164, such as a list of authorizationssuch as keys, download links, serial numbers, registration codes,login/password combinations, and the like and make this informationknown to the facilitator 150. Alternatively, the secret informationnecessary to enable user authorization may be provided only to thefacilitator 150. The facilitator 150 may select one of theauthorizations from the list of authorizations and automaticallyassociate this with a user 154. The authorization may be communicated tothe user 154 in a variety of ways. For example, the authorization couldbe delivered in an email or may be automatically be updated in anaccount created by the facilitator 150 for the user 154, such that theaccount can be securely accessed by the user 154 on an as needed basis.In certain embodiments, an email may be provided to the facilitator 150from the primary vendor 144 after the primary vendor 144 has customizedit such as to include additional information that may be useful to theuser 154, such as a support email address, a thank you from the primaryvendor 144, and the like. Alternatively, the facilitator 150 maycustomize the email for the primary vendor 144 or may provide a standardemail with the authorization to the user 154.

The user 154 may be notified of the alternate offer 160 in a variety ofways. The way of notifying the user 154 may influence the likelihood ofthe user 154 completing the offer 160. Therefore it may be beneficial toinclude a plurality of ways of notifying the user 154 of the offer 160.However, it may not be beneficial in that the user 154 may disregard allsubsequent offers after declining the first offer 160.

In embodiments, processing notifications associated with an alternateoffer 160 may require a certain processing time (such as may beassociated with credit card approvals). In such cases, the facilitator150 may (with agreement from the primary vendor 144), provide an initialauthorization to temporarily extend the use of primary offer 164, thusallowing time for the notification with respect to the alternate offer160 to be received by the facilitator 150 and a final authorization tobe sent to the user 154. This initial authorization may be associatedwith primary offers 164 that have a limited use policy, such as andwithout limitation a policy that would otherwise cause the primaryoffers 164 to expire during the processing period. The followingparagraphs describe a number of ways of notifying the user 154 of thealternate offer 160.

A user 154 may be notified of an alternate offer 160 by receiving anemail during the limited use phase of the primary offer 164. The emailmay be delivered to the user 154 at or near the end of the trial suchthat the user 154 may be inclined to continue using the product sincethe user 154 may have already used the trial primary offer 164effectively. An email reminder at the end of a trial may help users 154“on-the-fence” to commit to a purchase. The alternative payment offer160 may provide a material incentive for those users 154 to commit to anaction/sale.

A user 154 may be notified of the alternate offer 160 by an electroniccommunication. This communication may be rendered as a displayed messageon a client facility of the user 154. In embodiments and withoutlimitation, the client facility may comprise a home computer, a mobilecomputing facility (such as and without limitation a PDA, cell phone,pager, laptop computer, and so on), an automotive computing facility orin-dash automotive display, and so forth. The message may appear in astartup window (also known as a “nag screen”) that reminds the user 154that the product they are using is a trial or limited-use version andthey must pay for it or complete an alternate offer 160 to continue touse it beyond the trial limit. It will be appreciated that allreferences to a webpage, whether described herein or in the documentsthat may be included herein by reference, may refer to any and allpossible renditions of an electronic communication by a client facilityfor the user 154. A user 154 may receive a notification that isassociated with the alternate payment platform 100 when the user 154uninstalls software.

In support of an email campaign or generally using email to inform users154 about the alternate payment platform 100 and alternate paymentoptions, a user's 154 activity that is associated with the email (suchas if or when an email is read) may be tracked. Tracking a user 154activity that is associated with an email that is related to thealternate payment platform 100 may be useful in managing continued emailor other communication with a user 154. Such tracking may alert thealternate payment platform 100 of when a user 154 has read an email, ofhow long the email was opened (being viewed) by the user 154, of thegeographic location of the user 154 when the user 154 read the email,and so on. A commercial product such as “didtheyreadit” may provide sucha tracking capability and may be associated with the alternate paymentplatform 100. Alternatively, a tracking capability may be includedwithin the alternate payment platform 100 or may be provided by a thirdparty.

Email tracking of alternate offers 160, for example, may facilitate theuser 154 accepting an alternate offer 160. By tracking a user's 154activity that is associated with the email, it may be possible to makechanges to further emails (e.g. different email title, differentsecondary offer 160, different source email address, and so on) based onthe tracked activity. As an example, a user 154 may read an email of analternate offer 160 within several hours of the email being sent. Afollow-up email that refers to the earlier email may be sent to the user154, implicitly making a connection for the user 154 to their earlierexperience of reading the earlier email. This may allow the alternatepayment platform 100 to tailor the follow-up email to potentiallyimprove the chances of the user 154 accepting the alternate offer 160. Auser 154 that reads a tracked email and further interacts with thealternate payment platform 100 to view additional alternate paymentoptions (that is, alternate offers 160) may be receptive to additionalalternate offers 160.

A user 154 may be notified of the alternate offer 160 on the primaryvendor 144 payment webpage. This notification may be in lieu of orindependent of a primary offer 164. The notice may be provided to theuser 154 as an alternate way of paying for the product even if they havenot yet used the primary offer 164. In this way, a user 154 may elect tocomplete an alternate offer 160 instead of using another form of paymentat the time of purchase of the product. The notice may be presented tothe user 154 as a payment option similarly to other forms of paymentsuch as a credit card or electronic payment option. In an example,online video games may be for sale without a trial period. Thealternative payment platform 100 may enable users 154 to select analternate offer 160, perhaps instead of or in addition to other forms ofpayment.

A user 154 may be notified of an alternate offer 160 as a result of auser 154 navigating web pages of a primary vendor 144 website. A user154 may use web browser navigation icons, keyboard or mouse input, orcommands to open, close, display, minimize, or otherwise change thedisplay of a web page of a primary vendor 144 website (navigate). A user154 may move a web browser pointer to be placed over a navigationselection as herein described including links within the web page. Ifthe pointer remains over a navigation selection or link briefly, anoverlay image may be displayed notifying the user 154 that the alternatepayment platform 100 may be accessed through the navigation selection orlink.

Navigating through primary vendor 144 web pages may result in an offerof the alternate payment platform 100 being displayed to the user 154.The display may include a pop-up web browser type window, a redirectionof navigation to a web browser window, a confirmation window, a balloonor other graphic image, an audio message, a video or animation display,and any other type of visual or audible output intended to gain theattention of the user 154. The navigation resulting display may betransient, being displayed briefly. It may require input from the user154 before the navigation is executed, such as selecting among aplurality of navigation actions. It may require the user 154 to confirma navigation selection, wherein canceling the navigation selection mayallow a user 154 to use the alternate payment platform 100.

In an example of web browser based navigation offer notification, a user154 may be viewing a web page of a primary vendor 144 website, such as aprimary offer 164 description, a primary offer 164 purchaseconfirmation, a primary offer 164 shopping cart, and the like. The user154 may select to close the web page by selecting the window close icon(or other navigation selection as herein disclosed). Upon navigating toclose the web page, a confirmation window may be displayed. The user 154may be required to select among three options: continue to close the webpage, cancel the navigation, or review secondary offers 160 through thealternate payment platform 100. Alternatively, the user 154 may bepresented with one or more secondary offers 160 among the navigationoptions.

The facilitator 150 may facilitate the display of alternate offers 160in a multitude of ways, herein called touchpoints, in order tofacilitate a transaction between the user 154, primary vendor 144 andadvertiser 148. These touchpoints define the context in which thefacilitator 150 may display or otherwise present the alternate offers160 to the user 154 and by which the user 154 is encouraged to completean alternate offer 160 and receive a benefit such as receiving an item182 associated with the primary offer 164.

In another example, a user 154 may be viewing a web page of a primaryvendor 144 website and may enter a URL in the web browser address field.Upon detecting the address field change or when the user 154 selects tonavigate to the entered URL, the web browser may display a notification,such as a transition web page, wherein the user 154 may be asked to trythe alternate payment platform 100 to alternatively purchase an itemassociated with the viewed web page. The user 154 may select to continuenavigating to the entered URL or may try the alternate payment platform100 and navigate to a webpage associated with the alternate paymentplatform 100.

In another example, a user 154 may attempt to cancel the purchase of aprimary offer 164 by exiting the payment processing website of a primaryvendor 144 website (or third party shopping cart for the primary vendor144). Upon detecting that the user 154 is attempting to cancel thepurchase (such as by hitting the back button in the browser or bynavigating away from the shopping cart), the web browser may display anotification, such as a transition web page, wherein the user 154 may beasked to try the alternate payment platform 100 to view alternativeoffers 160 and alternatively purchase the primary offer 164 bycompleting one or more alternative offers 160.

In another example, a user 154 may receive an email based on a previousinteraction with primary vendor 144 (downloaded a trial version of theprimary offer 164, using the limited version of the primary offer 164,etc.) to try the alternate payment platform 100 to alternativelypurchase an item associated with the primary vendor 144.

In another example, a user 154 may attempt to fraudulently activate thefully functional primary offer 164. Upon detecting the attempted fraud,the user 154 may be prompted to view a notification, such as atransition web page, wherein the user 154 may be asked to try thealternate payment platform 100 to alternatively purchase the primaryoffer 164. The user 154 may elect to try the alternate payment platform100 and navigate to a webpage associated with the alternate paymentplatform 100.

In another example, a user 154 may attempt to uninstall the trialversion of primary offer 164. Upon detecting the product has beenuninstalled, the user 154 may be prompted to view a notification, suchas a transition web page, wherein the user 154 may be asked to try thealternate payment platform 100 to alternatively purchase the primaryoffer 164. The user 154 may elect to try the alternate payment platform100 and navigate to a webpage associated with the alternate paymentplatform 100.

A webpage of a primary vendor 144 website may include an alternatepayment button or other selectable element that may be placed on thepage with equal, lesser, or greater prominence than a buy button. In anexample of greater prominence, the alternate payment selection buttonmay include animated graphics to attract a user's 154 attention. Lesserprominence may include placing the alternate payment selection button atthe bottom of the web page along side contact or other selections thatare not payment related. Equal prominence may include placing the buybutton and the alternate payment button side by side with similar visualimpact. The alternate payment selection may be presented in a wide rangeof combinations of position and visual prominence that include the aboveexamples and many others. The prominence of the alternate paymentselection may be specified in a contractual agreement between afacilitator 150 of the alternate payment platform 100 and a primaryvendor 144. The prominence may be selected to meet a certain marketingobjective. The prominence may alternatively be based on an aspect of theuser 154 (such as a user preference) so that the alternate paymentselection element is more appealing to the user 154. Independent ofprominence, selection of the alternate payment element may result in analternate offer 160 being presented to the user 154 as an alternatepayment option.

The navigation alternatives herein described may be performed by aspectsof the web page being viewed (such as HTML code) or by other softwareexecuting on the user 154 computing facility in association with the webbrowser (such as a plug-in, applet, browser menu, or the like). Althougha web browser is described for viewing web pages of a primary vendor 144web site, other web page access and display software, programs, devices,hardware, and services may also be used to display and navigate the webpages.

A user 154 may be notified of offers by configuring an RSS reader todeliver information related to primary offers 164 or primary vendors 144being associated with secondary offers 160 or secondary offerors 148. Inthis way the user 154 may create a wish list of offer combinations andmay be notified of published electronic information related to thecombinations. The wish list may be created through a webpage of thealternate payment platform 100, or through RSS reader software.

Alternative payment secondary offers 160 may be associated with theprimary offer 164, the primary vendor 144, or the user 154. A primaryoffer 164 or alternate offer 160 may be provided to a user 154 based onuser 154 attributes such as demographics, geo-profile of comparableconsumers, and the like. Based on information the user 154 provides tothe facilitator 150 or secondary offeror 148 while completing analternate offer 160, the offer may be selected from an inventory ofoffers or dynamically generated. The offer may be based on a relevanceto one or more user 154 demographics such as age, income, address, sex,profession, marital status, and the like. The offer may be selected tomaximize the overall profit of the transaction based on a conversionrate, a payout amount and total volume of completed secondary offers 160from all vendors associated with the alternative payment platform 100,and the like.

A secondary offeror 148 may be an advertiser, product supplier, serviceprovider, market research firm, non-profit agency, educationalinstitution, or any other entity that may benefit from a user 154engaging with the secondary offeror 148 by completing an alternativepayment offer 160. Since in certain optional embodiments the secondaryofferor 148 may only pay the facilitator 150 for a completed alternateoffer 160, the secondary offeror 148 can, in such cases have someimproved confidence that the information provided by the user 154 isaccurate, since the same information may be used to provide the primaryoffer 164. The secondary offeror 148 may also seek primary vendors 144with which they may establish cross promotional arrangements. They mayalso seek primary vendors 144 with products that align with their ownproduct objectives such that a user 154 of the primary vendor 144product may have a greater likelihood of having an interest in thealternate offer 160.

The facilitator 150 may solicit or receive from the users 154 of primaryoffers 164 recommendations or suggestions for items or services ofinterest to the users 154. Such recommendations and suggestions may alsobe provided to the facilitator 150 by the primary vendor 144 on behalfof the users 154. Additionally or alternatively, the primary vendor 144may provide to the facilitator 150 demographic and/or preference data.In embodiments, this data may be utilized by the facilitator 150 intargeting secondary offers 160 to users 154 so as to increase conversionrates for the primary vendor 144. The facilitator 150 may solicitprimary vendors 144 and/or alternative payment secondary offerors 148for such items or services. The facilitator 150 may coordinate theassociation of a primary offer 164 with an alternate offer 160 based onthe suggestions or recommendations. The facilitator 150 may seek newprimary vendors 144 and/or secondary offerors 148 to provide items orservices based on the suggestions or recommendations.

The alternative payment platform 100 may allow a primary offeror 144 toreduce costs associated with product returns, since the user 154 has notmade a monetary payment for the product, such as if the return policy ofthe primary offeror 144 is tied to the actual price paid by the user 154for the item 182 associated with the primary offer 164.

An alternate payment platform 100 may include an offer optimizationfacility 102, which may select and/or create an optimized offer 132.Optimization of an alternate offer 160 may be based at least in part onone or more aspects of the alternate offer 160, a secondary offeror 148,a primary offer 164, a user 154, and timing associated with thealternate offer 160. An alternate offer 160 that is not accepted by auser 154 may not provide significant value to the secondary offeror 148,primary vendor 144, user 154, or facilitator 150. Therefore, secondaryoffers 160 may be optimized so they are relevant to the user 154 therebyincreasing the likelihood of user 154 acceptance.

Offer optimization may be based on an aspect of the alternate offer 160.The alternate offer 160 may include aspects such as approval terms,alternate offer 160 cost to the user 154, time to process an alternateoffer 160, age restrictions to accept the alternate offer 160, residencyrequirements, cancellation options, and the like. One or more of theseaspects may be combined so that an alternate offer 160 may be optimizedon a combination such as age restrictions and alternate offer 160 costto the user 154. In an example, an alternate offer 160 may be optimizedbased on approval terms. The approval terms of secondary offers 160 maybe evaluated to determine which alternate offer 160 may provide the bestapproval terms. One alternate offer 160 may require approval based on anon-line credit scoring method that returns an approval decision to theuser 154 in seconds. Another alternate offer 160 may require approval byan underwriting department that requires 10 days for an approvaldecision. In this example, the alternate offer 160 that returns anapproval decision in seconds may be considered to be optimal as comparedwith the other alternate offer 160 because a user 154 is more likely toaccept an offer with immediate feedback as compared with an offer thatrequires considerable time for approval. Offer optimization may alsoinclude combining one or more of these aspects with one or more aspectsof the user 154, facilitator 150, primary vendor 144, primary offer 164,and alternate offer 160 timing. Certain combinations are exemplifiedelsewhere herein.

In another example, offer optimization may also be based on an aspect ofthe popularity of an alternate offer 160. Popularity optimization may bebeneficial in that a more popular alternate offer 160 is likely to befrequently accepted, thereby providing value.

Optimization may be based on one or more aspects of a secondary offeror148. The aspects of a secondary offeror 148 for optimization may includecross marketing arrangements, time for the secondary offeror 148 to paythe facilitator 150, amount the secondary offeror 148 pays thefacilitator 150 for an alternate offer 160 acceptance, the number ofpotential secondary offers 160 from the secondary offeror 148, atraffic/payout plan, and the like.

Offer optimization based on aspects of the alternate offer 160 may berelated to offer optimization based on the secondary offeror 148. As anexample, a secondary offeror 148 may provide a plurality of secondaryoffers 160. This plurality of secondary offers 160 may be combinable sothat payout tier traffic volume may be reached using a combination ofalternate offer 160 acceptances. A secondary offeror 148 that permitscombining secondary offers 160 to reach a payout tier increased payoutmay be optimized above a secondary offeror 148 that does not permitcombining secondary offers 160. In this example, the secondary offers160 of the secondary offeror 148 that can be combined may be presentedbefore other secondary offers 160.

An offer may be optimized based on an aspect of a primary offer 164.Aspects of a primary offer 164 may include the class of primary offer164, the list (or normal) price, the discounted price of the primaryoffer 164, and the like.

An offer may be optimized based on one or more aspects of a primaryvendor 144. Aspects of a primary vendor 144 may include businessaffiliations between a primary vendor 144 and a secondary offeror 148,alternate offer 160 preferences or restrictions, the number of primaryoffers 164 available to the alternate payment platform 100 from thevendor, a volume discount threshold, and the like.

When primary offer 164 aspects and primary vendor 144 aspects arecombined for optimization, secondary offers 160 may be selected thathave a high relevance to a user 154 of a primary offer 164 and may morereadily be accepted.

An offer may be optimized based on one or more aspects of a user 154.Aspects of a user 154 for optimization may include demographics, prioralternate offer 160 acceptance history, geographic region, browser type,internet connection speed, receipt history, prior transaction history,and the like.

An offer may be optimized based on one or more aspects of timing.Aspects of timing for optimization may include time until expiration ofan alternate offer 160, duration of an alternate offer 160, a differencebetween the time to deliver the primary offer 164 and time to approvethe alternate offer 160, and the like. Optimization of secondary offers160 based on timing may include selecting an alternate offer 160 thatexpires sooner than one that expires later since the later expiringalternate offer 160 may be presented after the sooner expiring alternateoffer 160 expires.

An offer may be optimized to maximize revenue (e.g. vendor revenue,platform revenue); to target users 154 based on user 154 demographics,user 154 behavior, user 154 interaction with the platform 100, and thelike. Offer optimization may be unique for each secondary offeror 148,alternate offer 160, secondary offer consolidator 180, and othersecondary offer related aspects such as offer terms, offer timing, andthe like. Offer optimization may be dynamic so that it takes intoaccount secondary offerors 148 who may be approaching a pricingthreshold associated with secondary offer payouts to the platform 100.Offers may also be optimized to generate the highest quality leads forsecondary offerors 148.

The offer optimization facility 102 may include access to one or moredatabases containing secondary offers 160, preferences, user 154transaction history, demographics, and the like. The results of anoptimization may be stored in one or more of the databases, delivered tothe offer selection and display facility 104, or both.

Offer optimization may include one or more algorithms to facilitateoptimizing offers. Optimization algorithms may include heuristicoptimization algorithms, Markov decision processes, ranking techniques,steepest descent methods, conjugate gradient methods, and the like. Inan example, non-gender-neutral offers based on the gender of the usermay be selected through a Markov decision process. Offers relating towomen's clothing may be optimized to be presented to female users, whileoffers relating to men's clothing may be optimized to be presented tomale users.

Optimization may be performed locally for each vendor. It may also beperformed across a plurality of vendors associated with the paymentplatform 100, so that the benefits of optimization may accrue to allparties associated with the platform 100.

An aspect of the alternate payment platform 100 may include an offerselection and display facility 104. The offer selection and displayfacility 104 may match an offer or offers to a user 154, match an offeror offers to a primary offer 164, match an offer to an optimizationresult, and the like. The offer selection and display facility 104 mayalso present offers. The offers may be presented based on location,based on an aspect of the offer, based on a user 154 preference, basedon a primary vendor 144 preference, based on an optimization result,based on a secondary offeror 148 preference, and the like.

The offer selection and display facility 104 may select a plurality ofoffers to be presented to a user 154 based on the geographic location ofthe user 154. For example and without limitation, a user 154 located inthe United States may be presented with a selection of offers that canbe transacted in the United States, while a user 154 located in Canadamay be presented with a selection of offers that can be transacted inCanada.

The offer selection and display facility 104 may facilitate a user's 154viewing of any and all combinations of offers available through thealternate payment platform 100. When facilitating such viewing, theoffer selection and display facility 104 may mark any and all offersthat might not be valid for the user 154. This mark may involveitalicizing text, graying out text or graphics, using an alternatevisual representation to provide the offer, and so on.

In another example, the optimization facility may have optimized offers132 into a results list or group of optimized offers 132. The selectionfacility may first access this results list or group when selecting oneor more offers to present to a user 154. The selection facility mayapply selection criteria as herein described to the optimized resultslist or group of offers. The selection facility may present none, some,or all of the offers in the optimization results list with none or someother offers.

The selection facility may arrange the offers for presentation to theuser 154 so that optimized offers 132 are presented first or moreprominently than non-optimized offers 132. In certain preferredembodiments, optimized offers 132 are presented in a list of offers,rather than one-by-one.

The selection facility may facilitate presenting the offers in an orderor prominence that is relevant to the user 154. In an example, a user154 may instruct the selection facility through a user 154 interface toarrange the offers so that the offers with the greatest relevance to theuser 154 are presented first or more prominently. To the extent that auser 154 may be unknown to the alternate payment platform 100 whenoffers are presented, the user 154 may enter relevant information thatmay be used in the selection of offers. For example, the user 154 may bepresented a list of interest areas from which they could select one ormore. The selection facility may use this information to identify andpresent to the user 154 offers that are relevant to the user's 154interests.

Alternatively, the user 154 may select to register with the alternatepayment platform 100 so that each time the user 154 accesses theplatform 100, the preferences, interests, and other information relatedto the user 154 can be applied to offer selection by the offer selectionand display facility 104.

The selection facility may include an interface to the optimizationfacility, the payment module 108, and other modules and facilities ofthe alternate payment platform 100 as necessary. The selection facilitymay also include an interface to one or more databases containingoffers, preferences, user 154 transaction history, demographics 174, andthe like.

In certain preferred embodiments, the offer selection and displayfacility 104 may further include web pages for presenting aspects of theoffer and or the alternate payment platform 100. The web pages mayinclude user 154 interaction screens related to viewing, evaluating,selecting, and responding to an alternate payment offer. The offerselection and display facility 104 may allow a facilitator 150 toassociate new secondary offers 160 with one or more primary vendors 144so that a user 154 selecting to alternatively pay for the primary offer164 may select the associated new alternate offer 160. The associationmay be based at least in part on pricing of the offer, geography, andprimary vendor 144 preferences.

The offer selection and display facility 104 may also provide alternateoffer 160 tracking so that a user 154 will not see and cannot accept tworelated secondary offers 160. In an example, a user 154 may accept analternate offer 160 from Blockbuster from primary vendor A. Although theBlockbuster alternate offer 160 is available from primary vendor B, theuser 154 may not be presented the Blockbuster alternate offer 160through primary vendor B. In this way, the user 154 may not be presentedoffers that the user 154 cannot accept and the secondary offeror 148does not have to deny the user's 154 acceptance of the alternate offer160. This may also maintain the image and integrity of the alternatepayment platform 100.

Secondary offerors 148 may provide variable payment for acceptance of analternate offer 160 based on the quality of the user 154 engagement. Anaspect of quality may be geography which may be represented by regionalpricing. Offer selection, as may be performed through offer selectionand display facility 104 may include regional pricing. Offer selectionmay be based at least in part on an aspect of the secondary offeror 148payment terms as they relate to geography. Aspects of secondary offeror148 payment terms that may affect payments to the platform 100 mayinclude the user location, such as the user country, county, district,postal code, neighborhood, town, city, street, and the like. Offerselection with regional pricing may facilitate an administrator of theplatform 100 to quickly and clearly select one or more offers that meetthe applicable pricing and geographic constraints.

Offer selection and display facility 104 may include logic for selectingan offer based on location to support regional pricing. The logic mayiterate through each user location associated with each potentiallyrelated offer and identify offers that target the user 154 location(e.g. country) and have an expected payout (pricing) greater than theminimum acceptable price agreed to by the primary vendor 144 for theprimary offer 164. The logic may consider user location, offeravailability in the user 154 location, pricing of offer in the user 154location, primary offer 164 price, and other factors associated withoffer selection and display facility 104 as described elsewhere herein.The logic may determine that an offer may not suitably meet selectioncriteria. In an example, the minimum acceptable price that primaryvendor 144 has agreed to accept with respect to a primary offer 164 thatis presented to a user 154 in the USA may be $8. In this case, any offeryielding less than this amount to the primary vendor 144 will not bedisplayed to the user 154.

A user 154 interface associated with the platform 100 such as theprimary vendor interface 112, the secondary offeror interface 118, thefacilitator interface 122, and the like may include offer selectionrelated input. In an optional example, the platform 100 interface mayfacilitate displaying offers based on a target user 154 location, anactual user 154 location, and the like. A user 154 target location mayinclude North America which may include the US mainland, portions ofMexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the like. Therefore targeting NorthAmerica may display only those offers that are valid in the geographicregions associated with the target location. Offer selection may bebased at least in part on pre-defined offer groups as may be presentedthrough a template that may be based at least in part on a vendor,industry, geography, and the like.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a payment module 108. Thepayment module 108 may facilitate transactions associated with paymentsrelated to the alternate payment platform 100. The payment module 108may maintain payment records. The payment records may be maintainedpermanently such as in one or more databases of the alternate paymentplatform 100. The payment module 108 may track a user 154 interactionwith an accepted offer in such a way that the accepted offer isassociated with a secondary offeror 148, a primary vendor 144, a user154, and a primary offer 164. The payment module 108 may facilitateprocessing accepted offer approval notifications from the secondaryofferor 148 so that payments can be processed and a user 154 can receivethe primary offer 164. It should be noted that a variety of conditionsmay result in an offer 160 being completed. In some cases, anyengagement by a user 154 with the offer 160 may be sufficient tocomplete the offer 160, ranging from viewing the offer 160 to acceptingthe offer to performing some action, such as actually trying an item 190associated with the alternate offer 160. For example, in one embodimentan accepted offer may exist once a user 154 has completed data andpayment entry, and has agreed to all terms of an offer 160. An acceptedoffer may or may not require approval by the secondary offeror 148 inorder to be completed, and in cases where approval is required, theacceptance of the offer 160 may or may not in fact be approved by thesecondary offeror 148. Thus, only some accepted offers require approval.Such may be the case, for example, for offers that involve user 154payments or credit approval. An accepted offer that requires approvalbecomes a completed offer once a secondary offeror 148 approves theaccepted offer. In some cases the secondary offeror 148 may not approvean accepted offer and, consequently, the accepted offer may be vacated.In other cases any accepted offer is completed. It should be noted thatwhile in some cases there is a distinction between accepted offers andcompleted offers, in many cases an accepted offer, a completed offer, oran engagement by the user 154 with the secondary offeror 148 areequivalent in the methods and systems disclosed herein; therefore,references to each of these terms should be understood to encompass, invarious alternative embodiments, the others, except where contextdepends on the distinctions described here.

The payment module 108 may process payments associated with offers ofthe alternate payment platform 100. To process a payment, the paymentmodule 108 may include receiving notification or an indication ofengagement by user 154 with an alternate offer 160, such as by acceptingor completing an offer, receiving notification of an accepted offerapproval, receiving electronic payment (or record of electronic payment)from the secondary offeror 148, sending notification of accepted offerapproval to the primary vendor 144, sending electronic payment to theprimary vendor 144, sending payment to the facilitator 150, and thelike.

The payment module 108 may process a payment associated with a secondaryofferor 148. The payment module 108 may access a database or otherstorage of secondary offeror 148 payment information such as a fixedamount and a variable amount associated with a secondary offeror 148payment. The payment module 108 may use this information for verifyingthe secondary offeror 148 payment. The payment module 108 may alsodetermine an amount owed by the secondary offeror 148 and may issue adebit 142 to the secondary offeror 148 for the determined amount. Thepayment module 108 may determine this for each accepted offer or maydetermine it on an aggregation of accepted offers as often a once perhour, day, week or other time period. The payment module 108 may processan electronic payment received from the secondary offeror 148 in one ormore portions such as a fixed portion and a variable portion. Thepayment module 108 may verify a fixed portion includes an amount relatedto an agreed payment for each accepted offer approval. The paymentmodule 108 may verify the secondary offeror 148 electronic paymentincludes a variable amount such as an amount based on the number of newusers 154 who complete an alternative payment offer with the secondaryofferor 148. The payment module 108 may access a database or otherstorage of secondary offeror 148 payment information such as the fixedamount and the variable amount for use in verifying the secondaryofferor 148 payment. The payment module 108 may record the secondaryofferor 148 payment in a permanent record such as one or more databasesof the alternate payment platform 100.

The payment module 108 may process primary vendor 144 paymentsassociated with an accepted offer notification or an accepted offerapproval notification by the secondary offeror 148. The payment module108 may process a payment to be made to the primary vendor 144 thatincludes one or more portions such as a fixed portion and a variableportion. The payment module 108 may access a database of primary vendor144 payment information to determine the fixed and/or variable portionof a primary vendor 144 payment. The payment module 108 may processrecords associated with the primary vendor 144 such as related profitearned by the facilitator 150, number of accepted offers and acceptedoffer approvals associated with the primary vendor 144, and the like todetermine the fixed portion and/or the variable portion to be paid tothe primary vendor 144. The payment module 108 may determine an amountowed to the primary vendor 144 for each accepted offer or may determinethe amount owed on an aggregation of accepted offers as often a once perhour, day, week or other time period. The payment module 108 may recordthe primary vendor 144 payment in a permanent record such as one or moredatabases of the alternate payment platform 100.

The payment module 108 may facilitate processing a payment associatedwith a user 154. The payment module 108 may send a payment to a user 154(such as to a user's 154 bank account or other electronic account). Thepayment module 108 may receive payment from a user 154 (such as from auser's 154 bank account, credit card or other electronic account). Thepayment module 108 may record the user 154 payment in a permanent recordsuch as one or more databases of the alternate payment platform 100. Thepayment module 108 may facilitate processing both alternative paymentsas well as traditional payment processing (such as with a credit card).In embodiments, processing may facilitate a blended or hybrid payment,with a component of traditional payment and a component of alternativepayment. In such a “blended” or “hybrid” payment transaction, thepayment module 180 may be used in a two-part (or multi-part)transaction; thus, in one part the payment is via a traditional paymentmethod (such as a credit card), while in another part the payment is viathe alternate payment platform 100. The payment module 108 may send apayment to a user 154 (such as to a user's 154 bank account or otherelectronic account). The payment module 108 may receive payment from auser 154 (such as from a user's 154 bank account, credit card or otherelectronic account). The payment module 108 may record the user 154payment in a permanent record such as one or more databases of thealternate payment platform 100.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include vendor reporting 110.Vendor reporting 110 may facilitate collection, compilation, delivery,and presentation of information related to a vendor's association withthe alternate payment platform 100. Vendor reporting 110 may includereporting related to a primary vendor 144, a secondary offeror 148, afacilitator 150, a primary offer 164, or the like. Vendor reporting 110may include reporting related to payments, offer traffic, user 154information such as demographics, and the like. Vendor reporting 110 maycollect information from other elements of the alternate paymentplatform 100 including one or more databases such as a transactiondatabase. Vendor reporting 110 may be performed based on a schedule(such as each day, week, month, quarter, etc.), based on an event, basedon a request, and the like. Aspects of vendor reporting 110 may beperformed based on different factors. For example, collection andcompilation may be performed on a schedule or with each transaction,while delivery or presentation may only be performed on a schedule orwhen requested.

Vendor reporting 110 may include reports relating a primary offer 164 toone or more secondary offers 160. For example, a report may include alist of secondary offers 160 made to users 154 of the alternate paymentplatform 100 to purchase a primary offer 164. The report may includeresults from a plurality of users 154 purchasing the primary offer 164through the alternate payment platform 100. The list may show eachsecondary offer completed, the number of times users 154 selected eachoffer, the number of users 154 who accepted each offer, the number ofoffer approvals, and other information relevant to assessing arelationship between a primary offer 164 and one or more offers.

Primary vendors 144 may receive reports from vendor reporting 110 thatshow payments and transactions such as a listing of each transaction andthe associated payment sent to the primary vendor 144. The report mayinclude subtotals for primary offers 164, calendar periods, secondaryofferors 148, and the like.

Secondary offerors 148 may receive reports from vendor reporting 110related to offer performance. As described elsewhere herein a user 154may be presented with a plurality of secondary offers 160. The user 154may select any alternate offer 160 presented to view details of thealternate offer 160 and the alternate payment platform 100 may recordthe order of detail view selections made by the user 154. A report mayindicate the number of times an alternate offer 160 was selected fordetail viewing first, second, third, and so forth. This report may beuseful to the secondary offeror 148 in preparation of secondary offers160 to make them more attractive to the user 154, thereby improving thealternate offer 160 selection position. A secondary offeror 148 may alsobe interested in a relationship of an alternate offer 160 detail viewselection order to acceptance of the alternate offer 160 by the user154.

Vendor reporting 110 may be useful to a facilitator 150 of the alternatepayment platform 100. The facilitator 150 may receive reports comparingsecondary offerors 148. Secondary offerors 148 may be compared on avariety of aspects including payments, payment rate, payment time,comparison of payment data to payment terms, and the like. A vendorreport that indicates a first vendor generates higher revenue than asecond vendor may be useful to a facilitator 150 in managing servicesprovided to the vendors.

Vendor reporting 110 may be useful to a facilitator 150 in managingaspects of the alternate payment platform 100 such as offer optimizationand offer selection. A report that indicates a completed offer for afirst primary offer 164 (such as virus protection software) isgenerating a preferred level of payments from the secondary offeror 148.The facilitator 150 may prefer to adjust the offer optimization or offerselection so that the offer is displayed to users 154 purchasing asecond primary offer 164 (such as video editing software).

Vendor reporting 110 may also include reports on transaction and viewingactivity based on a source of user traffic. Sources of user traffic mayinclude websites, web pages, checkout screens, email, product nagscreens, on-line shopping cart abandonment event, and the like.Information such as quantity of user transactions sourced from thetraffic source, amount of revenue generated per source, and the like.User traffic source reports may be beneficial to a vendor in assessingthe user sourcing strategies so that they vendor can make adjustments topotentially improve revenue.

Vendor reporting 110 may also include reporting capability associatedwith a self service tier for primary vendors 144, secondary offerors148, and the like. Vendor reporting 110 may include transaction lists,transaction detail, transaction integrity model display, totals by week,month, touch point, and the like. Reporting 110 may include paymentrecords, pending payments, mix of pending and complete payments, creditextensions, mix of offers, and the like. Extended reporting based onvendor defined variables, aggregating categories underlyingtransactions, conversion rates, and the like may also be included invendor reporting 110. Conversion rate metrics may be reported based onaspects such as revenue per visit, revenue per user, number and rate ofconverted users, and the like. Reporting 110 may also include variousreports on user 154 traffic sources and/or statistics associated withtraffic sources. Traffic related reports may include presentinginformation and analysis associated with touch points before the sale,after the sale, during the sale, by email, by website, by intra-productnag screens and messages, physical world sources, mobile users, andmetrics such as vendor performance metrics.

An alternate payment platform 100 may include a primary vendor interface112. The primary vendor interface 112 may interconnect with otheraspects of the alternate payment platform 100 such as a primarytransaction facility 114, the payment module 108, and the like. Theprimary vendor interface 112 may facilitate a vendor interacting withthe alternate payment platform 100. A primary vendor 144 may access thealternate payment platform 100 through one or more web sites or webpages of the primary vendor interface 112. The primary vendor interface112 may include a welcome guide that may guide a vendor setting up anaccount and interacting with the alternate payment platform 100. Thevendor may enter information such as primary offer 164 descriptions,primary offer 164 pricing, offer preferences and restrictions, pricingadjustments based on geographic location, pricing adjustments based on atemporary sale, pricing volume discounts, authorization codes orauthorization URLs, lists of authorization codes or authorization URLs,rules or guidelines associated with the lists, payment accountinformation, vendor reporting 110 requirements, user 154 information,vendor contact information such as an email address, checkout page URLs,checkout page alternate payment offer options, payee bank details suchas bank account number, contact preference information, minimumacceptable price for a completed secondary offer 160 that relates to aprimary offer 164, and the like. The primary vendor interface 112 mayprovide web pages that facilitate a primary vendor 144 viewing andexporting reports generated by vendor reporting 110.

The primary vendor interface 112 may provide security and accesscontrols for employees such as requiring a primary vendor 144 to log inusing a user name and/or password to access the alternate paymentplatform 100.

In an example of another aspect of the primary vendor interface 112, theprimary vendor 144 may correspond with a facilitator 150, a secondaryofferor 148, a user 154, and the like through a communication aspect ofthe primary vendor interface 112. In embodiments, the primary vendorinterface 112 may be provided as an application programming interface, aservice-oriented architecture, or any and all other machine-machineinterfaces.

The primary vendor interface 112 may be embodied as an automaticservice, such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture. In an example, aprimary vendor 144 may dynamically configure the minimum acceptableprice associated with a primary offer 164 during an alternative paymenttransaction. In this way, the primary vendor 144 can dynamicallyconfigure the payment platform 100 to meet certain business needs suchas profit margin etc.

The primary vendor interface 112 may support a primary vendor 144requesting approval of changes to an aspect of a primary offer 164 suchas a minimum price to be paid to the primary vendor 144. The primaryvendor interface 112 may be adapted to automatically approve somechanges, such as email address, while requiring manual approval, such asby a facilitator 150 for other changes like pricing details, targetedgeographies, and the like.

An alternate payment platform 100 may include a primary transactionfacility 114. The primary transaction facility 114 may interconnect withother aspects of the alternate payment platform 100 such as a primaryvendor interface 112, an accepted offer, a secondary transactionfacility 120, a primary offer 164, user 154, and the like. The primarytransaction facility 114 may include processing transactions associatedwith a primary offer 164, an accepted offer, an approved accepted offer,and a user 154.

The primary transaction facility 114 may interface with the primaryvendor interface 112 to exchange information related to a primary offer164. The information exchanged may include information such as a user154 name and email, user 154 ID, a primary offer 164 identifier, serialnumber, revision, options, activation or authorization code, URL (suchas a link to a licensed copy of a primary offer 164), and order ID ofthe current user 154 transaction. This information may provide supportto primary vendors 144 offering primary offers 164 that are notdownloadable and/or are not serialized. This information may alsofacilitate the primary vendor 144 easily and securely fulfilling a user154 order of the primary offer 164. In response to a user 154 acceptingan offer (or an accepted offer being approved by the secondary offeror148), the primary transaction facility 114 may send information to theuser 154 such as an activation code, or primary offer 164 URL so thatthe user 154 may complete a transaction to acquire the primary offer164. The primary transaction facility 114 may receive a list of primaryoffer 164 authorization codes or URLs and may select, according to rulesassociated with the list, a code or URL to be sent to the user 154. Theprimary transaction facility 114 may track and record the codes or URLsselected from the list so that they are not duplicated or improperlyused. The information sent from the primary transaction facility 114 tothe user 154 may facilitate a user 154 acquiring or using an item 182associated with a primary offer 164.

The primary transaction facility 114 may receive a notification of anaccepted alternate offer 160. The notification of an accepted alternateoffer 160 may be conditionally based on one or more aspects of thealternate offer 160. A conditionally accepted offer may need approval bythe secondary offeror 148 to be authorized. The primary transactionfacility 114 may provide a notification to the user 154 associated withthe conditional acceptance. The notification may include informationrelated to instructions for receiving the primary offer 164 once theiraccepted offer is approved by the secondary offeror 148. Thenotification may also include a temporary license or code for use of theprimary offer 164 for a limited period of time, typically until theoffer is approved. The primary vendor interface 112 may also receivepayment requests, such as requests for credit 140 associated with atransaction, or with a plurality of transactions.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a secondary offerorinterface 118 such as may be used by a secondary offeror 148. Thesecondary offeror interface 118 may interconnect with other aspects ofthe alternate payment platform 100 such as a secondary transactionfacility 120, the payment module 108, a secondary offeror 148 and otheraspects such as a facilitator interface 122, or one or more databases ofthe alternate payment platform 100.

The secondary offeror interface 118 may facilitate a vendor interactingwith the alternate payment platform 100. A secondary offeror 148 mayaccess the alternate payment platform 100 through one or more web sitesor web pages of the secondary offeror interface 118. The secondaryofferor 148 may enter information such as offers, offer descriptions,offer pricing, offer preferences and restrictions, pricing adjustmentsbased on geographic location, pricing adjustments based on a temporarysale, pricing volume discounts, payment account information, vendorreporting 110 requirements, user 154 information, and the like. Thesecondary offeror interface 118 may provide web pages that facilitate asecondary offeror 148 viewing and exporting reports generated by vendorreporting 110.

The secondary offeror interface 118 may also facilitate a secondaryofferor 148 providing offer graphics, text, URLs, web pages that may bedisplayed on a web browser as part of presenting secondary offers 160 tousers 154. The secondary offeror interface 118 may also facilitate asecondary offeror 148 providing rules or guidelines associated withoffers that may be related to offer optimization or offer selection. Thesecondary offeror interface 118 may also receive payment requests, suchas a debit 142 associated with an offer transaction, or with a pluralityof transactions.

The secondary offeror interface 118 may provide security such asrequiring a secondary offeror 148 to log in using a user name and/orpassword to access the alternate payment platform 100.

In an example of another aspect of the secondary offeror interface 118,the secondary offeror 148 may correspond with a facilitator 150, aprimary vendor 144, a user 154, and the like through a communicationaspect of the secondary offeror interface 118.

The secondary offeror interface 118 may be embodied as an automaticservice, such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture.

A secondary offeror 148 may use a secondary offeror interface 118 tointeract directly with the alternate payment platform 100. The secondaryofferor interface 118 may be used to activate, configure, manage andmonitor an account on the alternate payment platform 100. The secondaryofferor interface 118 may display leads generated, advertisingstatistics, commissions paid, and the like. The secondary offerorinterface 118 may facilitate automatic transaction importing, wherebyoffers are batched together and processed according to rules setup bythe secondary offeror 148. In an example, certain transactions maycontain multiple payment components based on whether a user 154 providesadditional value to the secondary offeror 148 by further engaging withthe secondary offeror 148 such as by continuing to make use of thesecondary offer 160 after an initial trial period. An alternate paymentplatform 100 may include a secondary transaction facility 120. Thesecondary transaction facility 120 may interconnect with other aspectsof the alternate payment platform 100 such as a secondary offerorinterface 118, one or more selected alternate offer(s) 138, such asselected from a wider range of potentially relevant alternate offers160, an accepted alternate offer 160, a user 154, and the like. Thesecondary transaction facility 120 may include processing transactionsassociated with selected offer(s) 138, an accepted alternate offer 160,a user 154, and the like.

The secondary transaction facility 120 may interface with the secondaryofferor interface 118 to exchange information related to an offer. Theinformation exchanged may include information such as a user name andemail, an offer identifier, serial number, revision, options, activationor authorization code, URL (such as a link to an authorized offer). Inresponse to a user 154 accepting an alternate offer 160 (or an acceptedoffer being approved by the secondary offeror 148 in cases whereapproval is required), the secondary transaction facility 120 may sendinformation to the user 154 such as an activation code, or URL so thatthe user 154 may access, activate and otherwise have unrestricted use ofthe primary offer 164.

The secondary transaction facility 120 may include one or more web sitesor web pages associated with presenting secondary offers 160 to users154 of the alternate payment platform 100. The web pages may alsofacilitate a user 154 evaluating, selecting and completing an alternateoffer 160 from a plurality of secondary offers 160 selected by the offerselection and display facility 104. A user 154 may, through one or moreweb pages of the secondary transaction facility 120, browse and reviewsecondary offers 160 and accept an alternate offer 160. The secondarytransaction facility 120 may provide the accepted offer information tothe secondary offeror interface 118 for purposes of facilitating thesecondary offeror 148 receiving a user's 154 alternate offer 160acceptance.

The secondary transaction facility 120 may, through the one or more webpages complete the transactions associated with an alternate offer 160so that the secondary offeror 148 is only notified of the transactionand delivered the relevant user 154 information (including paymentinformation).

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a universal shopping cartthat displays to the user 154 aspects of the current transactions suchas the primary offer 164, the primary vendor 144, the natural or primaryvendor price for the primary offer 164, the alternate offer 160, astatus of the alternate offer 160, a payment method, and the like. Theuniversal shopping cart may display, such as through a web browser, aplurality of primary offers 164 selected by the user 154 along withselected secondary offers 160, and other relevant information.

The secondary transaction facility 120 may be embodied as an automaticservice, such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a facilitator interface122. The facilitator interface 122 may facilitate a facilitator 150interacting with the alternate payment platform 100. The facilitatorinterface 122 may include one or more web sites or web pages, RSS feeds,and the like. A facilitator 150 may setup and maintenance thealternative payment platform 100 through the facilitator interface 122.The facilitator interface 122 may facilitate viewing and controlling oneor more alternate payment platforms 100. The facilitator interface 122may provide web pages that facilitate a facilitator 150 viewing reportsgenerated by the alternate payment platform 100 such as may be generatedby vendor reporting 110. In an example of another aspect of thefacilitator interface 122, the facilitator 150 may correspond with aprimary vendor 144, a secondary offeror 148, a user 154, otherfacilitators 150, and the like through a communication aspect of thefacilitator interface 122.

A facilitator 150 may manage aspects of the alternate payment platform100 through the facilitator interface 122. For example, the facilitator150 may configure aspects of the alternate payment platform 100 such asthe secondary transaction facility 120, the payment module 108, andother aspects such as the facilitator interface 122 or one or moredatabases of the alternate payment platform 100. The facilitatorinterface 122 may provide web pages through which a facilitator 150 mayestablish user names and passwords and associate access rights such asaccess controls to aspects of the alternate payment platform 100 to theuser names.

The facilitator interface 122 may provide security and access controlsuch as requiring a facilitator 150 to log in using a user name and/orpassword to access the alternate payment platform 100.

The facilitator interface 122 may be embodied as an automatic service,such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture.

The facilitator interface 122 may facilitate a facilitator 150 sendingemail to users 154, primary vendors 144, secondary offerors 148, and anyother user or participant in the alternate payment platform 100. In anexample, the facilitator interface 122 may include a list of systemissued emails and a ‘re-send’ button that, when selected by thefacilitator 150, automatically resends a selected email to one or moreparticipants.

The facilitator interface 122 may also provide system integrity andrules checking capabilities so that a facilitator 150 may test thealternate payment platform 100. Rules such as minimum credit amount aprimary vendor 144 will accept may be violated as aspects of the systemchange dynamically (such as a secondary offeror 148 changing offerterms). A manual or automatic integrity check to verify transactions aremeeting the rules may be beneficial to the primary vendor 144.

The alternate payment platform 100 may also include demo or dummyoffers, vendors, and payment models that can be used to test“end-to-end” alternate payments.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include communications betweenelements of the platform 100. The communications may include informationsuch as data associated with optimized offers 132, selected offers 138,accepted secondary offers 160, debits 142, credits 140, configuration,reporting, correspondence, and the like. The communication may be aresult of an action, event, request, schedule or other aspect of thealternate payment platform 100. Communication may include any form ofelectronic communication such as email, messaging, text messaging, voicemail, e-commerce transaction, file transfer, database transfer, HTTP,TCP/IP, and other types of communication modes, formats, and content.Communication associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude security aspects such as encoding, encrypting, passwordprotection, SSL, VPN, and other security measures to facilitateprotecting communication.

Communications associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude optimized offers 132. Optimized offers 132 may be communicatedbetween at least an offer optimization facility 102 and an offerselection and display facility 104. Optimized offer 132 communicationmay include information related to optimization of offer alternatives asmay be performed by the offer optimization facility 102 as hereindescribed. In an example, the offer optimization facility 102 maycommunicate one or more offers that meet one or more optimizationcriteria such as conversion rate or profitability. The one or moreoptimized offers 132 may be communicated to the selection facility forinclusion in an offer selection process. The optimized offer 132communication may include prioritization criteria associated withvarious aspects of the optimized offer 132 so that the selectionfacility may include the relevant prioritization criteria in theselection process.

In embodiments an optimized offer 132 may be communicated by theselection facility as a selected offer(s) 138 to the secondarytransaction facility 120.

Communications associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude selected offers 138. Selected offers 138 may be communicatedbetween at least an offer selection and display facility 104 and asecondary transaction facility 120. Selected offers 138 communicationmay include one or more selected offers 138. The selected offers 138 maybe communicated to the secondary transaction facility 120 based on anevent, a request, a schedule, or other aspect associated with selectingan offer. The selection facility may send a selected offer(s) 138communication when a user 154 accesses the alternate payment platform100 to acquire a primary offer 164 from a primary vendor 144. In such asituation, the selection facility may communicate a list of selectedoffers 138 that the secondary transaction facility 120 may present tothe user 154. The selected offer(s) 138 communication may include HTMLrepresenting the selected offers 138. The selected offer(s) 138communication may include a link or URL to HTML, XML, or otherelectronic representation of the selected offer(s) 138. A selected offer138 may be communicated by the secondary transaction facility 120 asbecoming an accepted alternate offer 160 based on a user 154 interactionwith the secondary transaction facility 120.

Communications associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude a secondary offer response 134. Communication to respond to analternate offer 160 may occur among at least the secondary transactionfacility 120, the primary transaction facility 114, the offeroptimization facility 102, the payment module 108, vendor reporting 110,other aspects of the platform 100 such as one or more databases, and thelike. Communicating a secondary offer response 134 may includeinformation associated with at least one transaction facilitated by thesecondary transaction facility 120. The alternative payment platform 100may provide a user 154 with a status of whether an alternate offer 160has been completed, such as whether the user 154 has completed allactions necessary for engaging with the secondary offeror 148, acceptingan alternate offer 160, or the like, or whether an accepted offer hasbeen approved by the secondary offeror 148, in cases where approval isrequired.

A secondary offer response 134 communication may include an acceptanceof an alternate offer 160. The information may include data such as anoffer, user 154 identifying information, a primary offer 164, and thelike. The information may also include data relevant to the offerevaluation and selection actions associated with the accepted alternateoffer 160. Such data may include identification of the acceptedalternate offer 160 as pending approval of a secondary offeror 148, timeuntil approval, number of offers reviewed by the user 154 beforeaccepting the alternate offer 160, and the like.

Communicating the accepted alternate offer 160 may occur in real-timebetween at least the secondary transaction facility 120 and the primarytransaction facility 114 so that the user 154 may be provided theprimary offer 164 associated with accepting the alternate offer 160. Asan example, a user 154 may receive a primary offer 164 of a softwareprogram download contingent upon the user 154 accepting an alternateoffer 160. The user 154 may review one or more secondary offers 160 suchas may be presented by the alternate payment platform 100, and acceptone. Upon completion of the user 154 acceptance of the alternate offer160, which may be facilitated by the secondary transaction facility 120,the communication between the secondary transaction facility 120 and theprimary transaction facility 114 may occur. As herein described, theprimary transaction facility 114 may receive the communication andprovide the user 154 with information about accessing and activating aprimary offer 164. The offer optimization facility 102 may receive acommunication indicating completion of the alternate offer 160. Theinformation associated with the communication may be included insubsequent offer optimizations. The offer optimization facility 102 mayprocess the information resulting in an indication, for example, that analternate offer 160 is popular. The communication may also includeinformation about other secondary offers 160 related to the acceptedalternate offer 160. The other alternate offer 160 information may beprocessed to determine their popularity (or lack of popularity). Theoffer optimization facility 102 may use the information included withand associated with the completed alternate offer communication 158 inany manner of offer optimization as herein described.

The payment module 108 may receive an alternate offer communication 158,such as a communication that an offer has been completed. The paymentmodule 108 may use the communication to identify one or more debits 142and credits 140 associated with the completed alternate offer 160. Eachdebit 142 and/or credit 140 may be identified by the communicationdirectly, indirectly, or a combination thereof. In an example, thealternate offer communication 158 may directly identify the secondaryofferor 148 and the debit 142 amount to be charged to the secondaryofferor 148 in connection with a completed alternate offer 160. Thecommunication may also include a primary offer 164 reference oridentifier that the payment module 108 may use to access the relevantprimary vendor 144, credit information, user 154 information, and thelike from one or more databases. To account for transaction associatederrors, the payment module 108 may support charge backs. Charge backsmay facilitate recovering credits 140 or adjusting debits 142 for asecondary offering 170 failure. The alternate payment platform 100 mayperform a charge back if the alternate payment platform 100 does notreceive the debit 142 amount charged to the secondary offeror 148. Thetotal charge back may appear as a reduction in a future credit 140 to aprimary vendor 144. The total charge back may appear as a fee to theprimary vendor 144. Vendor reporting module 110 may provide reports oftransaction activity, including fulfillment errors and charge backs toprimary vendors 144, secondary offerors 148, the facilitator 150, andany other participant or regulatory agency legally authorized to reviewfinancial transactions of the alternate payment platform 100.

Vendor reporting facility 110 may receive an alternate offercommunication 158 indicating completion of an alternate offer 160.Vendor reporting 110 may use the communication to generate one or morevendor reports or other reports as herein described. The communicationmay trigger one or more actions associated with vendor reporting 110such as compiling data for vendor reporting 110 and others as hereindescribed.

An alternate offer communication 158 may include any communication aboutalternate offer(s) 160 among the facilitator 150, secondary offeror(s)148, and users 154. In one embodiment, such an alternate offercommunication 158 may include a search criteria as provided by a user154. The search criteria may include one or more keywords, primaryvendors 144, products, secondary offerors 148, services, paymentamounts, payment types, and the like. The search criteria may be used bythe alternate payment platform 100 to search one or more databases toidentify one or more offers having a relevance to one or more aspects ofthe search criteria. The alternate payment platform 100 may present,such as through the secondary transaction facility 120, the one or moreidentified offers to a user 154.

The secondary offer response 134 may include user 154 preferences,opinion, votes, or the like related to one or more secondary offers 160.The alternate payment platform 100 may use these and other aspects ofsecondary offer communications 158 to facilitate optimizing offers suchas through the offer optimization facility 102.

Communications associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude credit communications. Credit communication may occur among thepayment module 108, a facilitator interface 122, a primary vendorinterface 112, vendor reporting 110, and the like. Credit communicationmay include information such as credit 140 amount, identifiers for atransaction, user 154, primary offer 164, primary vendor 144, alternatepayment platform 100, facilitator 150, payment plan, and the like. Acredit communication may include information that may facilitate anelectronic financial transfer between two financial entities. Forexample, a credit 140 transaction may include an authorization code withwhich a primary vendor 144 may withdraw an amount identified in thecredit communication from a financial account associated with thealternate payment platform 100. In another example, a creditcommunication may be an email with a link such as a URL that, whenaccessed allows a receiver of the email to accept a payment into aPayPal (or similar) account.

A credit communication may occur as a result of an event (such as anaccepted alternate offer 160 communication), an action (such as afacilitator 150 instructing the payment facility to issue a credit 140),a schedule (such as a monthly minimum payment), a request (such as aprimary vendor 144 requesting a credit 140), or other aspect of thealternate payment platform 100.

A facilitator interface 122 may receive a credit communication. Thefacilitator interface 122 may receive a notification that a credit 140has been accrued or deposited. The credit 140 may be associated with anaccepted alternate offer 160. The credit 140 may also be associated witha fee of the alternate payment platform 100. In an example of such afee, the alternate payment platform 100 may require a fee be paid by aprimary vendor 144 to establish an account with the platform 100. A feemay be charged to a secondary offeror 148 based on an offer presentationvolume, an offer acceptance volume, a number of offers, and the like.The credit communication may indicate the source of the credit 140, theamount, and the time of the credit 140. The credit communication mayalternatively indicate that a credit 140 is due (or will soon be due) tothe facilitator 150 so that the facilitator 150 as the option to takeaction regarding the credit 140 due.

A primary vendor interface 112 may receive a credit communication. Theprimary vendor interface 112 may receive a notification that a credit140 has been accrued or deposited. The credit 140 may be associated withan accepted alternate offer 160. The credit 140 may also be associatedwith a fee of the alternate payment platform 100. In an example of sucha fee, the alternate payment platform 100 may issue a credit 140 of arequired a fee based on an aspect of the business being conducted withthe alternate payment platform 100. A fee may be credited back to aprimary vendor 144 based on primary offer 164 volume, an offeracceptance volume associated with an alternate offer 160 or a primaryoffer 164, a number of primary offers 164, and the like. The creditcommunication may indicate the source of the credit 140, the amount, andthe time of the credit 140. The credit communication may alternativelyindicate that a credit 140 is due (or will soon be due) to the primaryvendor 144 so that the primary vendor 144 has the option to take actionregarding the credit 140 due.

Communications associated with the alternate payment platform 100 mayinclude debit communication. Debit communication may occur among apayment module 108, a secondary offeror interface 118, and other aspectsof the alternate payment platform 100. Debit communication may includeinformation such as debit 142 amount, identifiers for a transaction,user 154, alternate offer 160, secondary offeror 148, alternate paymentplatform 100, facilitator 150, payment plan, and the like. A debitcommunication may include information that may facilitate an electronicfinancial transfer between two financial entities. For example, a debit142 transaction may include an authorization code with which a secondaryofferor 148 may deposit an amount identified in the credit communicationto a financial account associated with the alternate payment platform100. In another example, a debit communication may be an email with alink such as a URL that, when accessed allows a receiver of the email todeposit a debit 142 into a PayPal account.

A debit communication may occur as a result of an event (such as anaccepted alternate offer 160 communication), an action (such as afacilitator 150 instructing the payment facility to issue a debit 142),a schedule (such as a monthly minimum payment request), a request (suchas a requesting a secondary offeror 148 requesting to pay a debit 142),or other aspect of the alternate payment platform 100.

A secondary offeror interface 118 may receive a debit communication. Thesecondary offeror interface 118 may receive a notification that a debit142 has accrued. The debit 142 may be associated with an acceptedalternate offer 160. The debit 142 may also be associated with a fee ofthe alternate payment platform 100. In an example of such a fee, thealternate payment platform 100 may issue a debit 142 for a required afee based on an aspect of the business being conducted with thealternate payment platform 100. A fee may be debited from secondaryofferor 148 based on alternate offer 160 volume, an offer acceptancevolume, a number of secondary offers 160, and the like. The debitcommunication may indicate the source of the debit 142 request, theamount, and the due date of the debit 142. The debit communication mayalternatively indicate that a debit 142 is due (or will soon be due) sothat the secondary offeror 148 has the option to take action regardingthe debit 142 owed.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include one or more primaryvendors 144. Each primary vendor 144 may be uniquely identified by thealternate payment platform 100 so that credits 140, transactions, andthe like associated with each primary vendor 144 may be tracked by thealternate payment platform 100. The unique identifier of a primaryvendor 144 may be generated by the alternate payment platform 100 whenthe primary vendor 144 registers.

A primary vendor 144 may make available one or more primary offers 164such as products or services. The primary vendor 144 may associate oneor more products or services with the alternate payment platform 100 tofacilitate a user 154 acquiring the product or service through thealternate payment platform 100. Such an association may establish aprimary offer 164 of the alternate payment platform 100.

A primary vendor 144 may identify limits of use associated with aprimary offer 164. The limits of use may relate to the alternate paymentplatform 100. The alternate payment platform 100 may, through theprimary transaction facility 114 for example, based at least in part onthe limits of use, contact a user 154 on a primary vendor's 144 behalfto acquire the product or service using the alternate payment platform100.

The primary vendor 144 association with the alternate payment platform100 may embody a variety of interactions. An example of one interactionmay include a primary vendor 144 making available a product or servicefor download or other delivery to the user 154. The primary vendor 144may receive payment from the alternate payment platform 100 once thealternate payment platform 100 receives notification that the user 154has successfully completed one or more secondary (alternate payment)offers 160. The platform 100 pays the primary vendor 144 an amountspecified by the primary vendor 144 or agreed by the primary vendor 144and the alternate payment platform 100 facilitator 150.

The primary vendor 144 may receive, such as through the primary vendorinterface 112, information associated with an alternate offer 160transaction and a primary offer 164. The primary vendor 144 may evaluatethe received information to determine if the primary vendor 144 shouldsend authorization of a primary offer 164 to the alternate paymentplatform 100 through the primary vendor interface 112 so that theprimary transaction facility 114 can execute the primary offer 164 withthe user 154.

The primary vendor 144 may execute a primary offer 164 directly with auser 154. The primary vendor 144 may execute the offering through one ormore web pages, emails, messages, texts, calls, letters, packages, andthe like.

The primary vendor 144 may include one or more websites or web pagesindependent of the alternate payment platform 100. One or more of theweb pages may be associated with the alternate payment platform 100. Theprimary vendor 144 may be responsible for maintaining any or all webpages that associate the primary vendor 144 product or service offerswith the alternate payment platform 100. Alternatively, the primaryvendor 144 may only maintain a link to web pages associated with thealternate payment platform 100 and the facilitator 150 may beresponsible for maintaining any or all associated web pages.

A primary vendor 144 may establish cross promotional arrangements withsecondary offerors 148. The primary vendor 144 may notify the alternatepayment platform 100 of the cross promotional arrangement through theprimary vendor interface 112.

The primary vendor 144 may interact with users 154 directly, such asthrough a primary offer 164. The primary vendor 144 may alternativelyinteract with users 154 indirectly through the alternate paymentplatform 100, such as through a primary offer 164. The mode ofinteraction may be indistinguishable to the user 154 so that the user154 may perceive that the primary vendor 144 is directly interactingwith them at all times.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include one or more secondaryofferors 148. Each secondary offeror 148 may be uniquely identified bythe alternate payment platform 100 so that debits 142, transactions, andthe like associated with each secondary offeror 148 may be tracked bythe alternate payment platform 100. The unique identifier of a secondaryofferor 148 may be generated by the alternate payment platform 100 whenthe secondary offeror 148 registers.

A secondary offeror 148 may make available one or more secondary offers160 to users 154 through the alternate payment platform 100. Thesecondary offeror 148 may associate one or more products or serviceswith secondary offers 160 of the alternate payment platform 100 tofacilitate a user 154 acquiring the product or service through thealternate payment platform 100. Such an association may establish analternate offer 160 on the alternate payment platform 100.

A secondary offeror 148 may identify limits of use, terms of approval,payment terms, and the like associated with an alternate offer 160. Thelimits of use, terms of approval, and payment terms may relate to thealternate payment platform 100. In an example, the alternate paymentplatform 100 may, through the secondary transaction facility 120 andbased at least in part on limits of use, contact a user 154 on asecondary offeror's 148 behalf to facilitate acquiring the product orservice associated with the alternate offer 160 by using the alternatepayment platform 100.

The secondary offeror's 148 association with the alternate paymentplatform 100 may encompass a variety of interactions. An example of oneinteraction may include a secondary offeror 148 making available aproduct or service for download or other delivery to the user 154. Thesecondary offeror 148 may send payment to the alternate payment platform100 once the alternate payment platform 100 notifies the secondaryofferor 148 that the user 154 has successfully completed one or moresecondary (alternate payment) offers 160. The secondary offeror 148 maypay the alternate payment platform 100 an amount specified by thesecondary offeror 148 or agreed by the secondary offeror 148 andalternate payment platform 100 facilitator 150.

The secondary offeror 148 may receive, such as through the secondaryofferor interface 118, information associated with a user 154 acceptanceof an alternate offer 160 transaction. The secondary offeror 148 mayevaluate the received information to determine if the secondary offeror148 should authorize the user 154 acceptance of the alternate offer 160so that the secondary transaction facility 120 can execute the alternateoffer 160 with the user 154.

The secondary offeror 148 may execute a secondary offer 160 directlywith a user 154. The secondary offeror 148 may execute the secondaryoffer 160 through one or more web pages, emails, messages, texts, calls,letters, packages, and the like.

The secondary offeror 148 may include one or more websites or web pagesindependent of the alternate payment platform 100. One or more of theweb pages may be associated with the alternate payment platform 100. Thesecondary offeror 148 may be responsible for maintaining any or all webpages that associate the secondary offeror 148 product or servicesecondary offers 160 with the alternate payment platform 100.Alternatively, the secondary offeror 148 may only maintain a link to webpages associated with the alternate payment platform 100 and thefacilitator 150 may be responsible for maintaining any or all associatedweb pages.

A secondary offeror 148 may establish cross promotional arrangementswith primary vendors 144. The secondary offeror 148 may notify thealternate payment platform 100 of the cross promotional arrangementthrough the secondary offeror interface 118.

The secondary offeror 148 may interact with users 154 directly, such asthrough an alternate offer 160. The secondary offeror 148 mayalternatively interact with users 154 indirectly through the alternatepayment platform 100, such as through an alternate offer 160. The modeof interaction may be indistinguishable to the user 154 so that the user154 may perceive that the secondary offeror 148 is directly interactingwith them at all times.

The secondary offeror 148 may be an advertiser, promoter, or otherentity interested in establishing connections with new customers. Thesecondary offeror 148 may also be a primary vendor 144 in relation tothe alternate payment platform 100. In this way a primary offer 164 maybe presented to a user 154 as an alternate offer 160. In an example, avendor may provide pet products. The user 154 may be acquiring dog foodand may be offered to receive the dog food for an alternate payment. Thealternate payment may be an offer by the vendor to purchase a new typeof dog shampoo, join a mailing list, sign up for a credit card accountwith the vendor, and the like.

In the preceding example the alternate payment platform 100 may beembodied within an electronic commerce infrastructure of the vendor.Such an embodiment may facilitate the vendor taking advantage of themethods and systems of the alternate payment platform 100 as hereindescribed without having to route electronic commerce through a separateplatform. Such an embodiment may be licensed by the vendor from thefacilitator 150. The vendor may pay the facilitator 150 a fee for thelicensing. The fee may be based on a one time fee, unit pricing, averageproduct cost, offer presentation volume, number of primary 164 andsecondary offers 160 supported, calendar time, and any number of otheraspects of the vendor business or the alternate payment platform 100.

In embodiments, without limitation, the alternate payment platform 100may be provided as a service, such as and without limitation accordingto a service-oriented architecture or any other computing architecture.Use of the service may or may not be associated with a fee, such as andwithout limitation an access fee, service fee, transaction fee, and thelike.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include one or more facilitators150. Each facilitator 150 may be uniquely identified by the alternatepayment platform 100 so that debits 142, transactions, and the likeassociated with each facilitator 150 may be tracked by the alternatepayment platform 100. The unique identifier of a facilitator 150 may begenerated by the alternate payment platform 100 when the facilitator 150registers with the platform 100.

A facilitator 150 may identify limits of use, terms of approval, paymentterms, and the like associated with the alternate payment platform 100.In an example, the alternate payment platform 100 may, through one ormore interfaces or transaction facilities contact a participant on afacilitator's 150 behalf to facilitate a debit 142, credit 140, or othertransaction associated with the alternate payment platform 100.

The facilitator's 150 association with the alternate payment platform100 may embody a variety of interactions. The interactions may includesetup and maintenance of the alternative payment platform 100, viewingand controlling one or more alternate payment platforms 100, viewingreports generated by the alternate payment platform 100 such as may begenerated by vendor reporting 110, corresponding with a primary vendor144, a secondary offeror 148, a user 154, or other facilitators 150.

The facilitator 150 may manage aspects of the alternate payment platform100 through a facilitator interface 122. For example, the facilitator150 may configure aspects of the alternate payment platform 100 such asthe secondary transaction facility 120, the payment module 108, andother aspects such as the facilitator interface 122 or one or moredatabases of the alternate payment platform 100. A facilitator 150 mayestablish user names and passwords and associate access rights toaspects of the alternate payment platform 100 to the user names.

The facilitator 150 may receive payment from the alternate paymentplatform 100. The payment may be a result of a secondary offeror 148making a payment, a vendor paying a fee, and the like. The alternatepayment platform 100 may credit 140 a facilitator 150 an amountspecified by a vendor or agreed by the vendor and the facilitator 150.

The facilitator 150 may receive, such as through the facilitatorinterface 122, information associated with a vendor registrationrequest. The facilitator 150 may evaluate the received information todetermine if the vendor should be authorized to participate in alternatepayment platform 100.

The facilitator 150 may contact a participant of the alternate paymentplatform 100. The facilitator 150 may execute the contact through one ormore web pages, emails, messages, texts, calls, letters, packages, andthe like.

The facilitator 150 may include one or more websites or web pagesindependent of the alternate payment platform 100. One or more of theweb pages may also be associated with the alternate payment platform100. The facilitator 150 may be responsible for maintaining any or allweb pages that associate the facilitator 150 with the alternate paymentplatform 100. Alternatively, the facilitator 150 may only maintain alink to web pages associated with the alternate payment platform 100 andthe alternate payment platform 100 may be responsible for maintainingany or all associated web pages.

A facilitator 150 may establish cross-promotional arrangements withprimary vendors 144, secondary offerors 148, other facilitators 150,other alternate payment platforms 100, payment facilitators 150, offerconsolidators, and the like. The facilitator 150 may notify thealternate payment platform 100 of the cross promotional arrangementthrough the facilitator interface 122.

The facilitator 150 may be an advertiser, promoter, or other entityinterested in establishing connections with new customers. Thefacilitator 150 may also participate in the alternate payment platform100 as one or more other participants as herein described.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include one or more users 154.Each user 154 may be uniquely identified by the alternate paymentplatform 100 so that payments, transactions, and the like associatedwith each user 154 may be tracked by the alternate payment platform 100.The unique identifier of a user 154 may be generated by the alternatepayment platform 100 when the user 154 registers.

A user 154 may accept one or more primary offers 164 such as products orservices. The user 154 may acquire one or more products or services withthe alternate payment platform 100 to facilitate acquiring the productor service, thereby establishing a primary offer 164 of the alternatepayment platform 100.

A user 154 may accept limits of use associated with a primary offer 164.The limits of use may relate to the alternate payment platform 100. Theuser 154 may, through the primary transaction facility 114 for example,based at least in part on the limits of use, contact the alternatepayment platform 100 to acquire the product or service from the primaryvendor 144.

The user 154 association with the alternate payment platform 100 mayembody a variety of interactions. Examples of user 154 interactions mayinclude transactions and other interactions as herein described. User154 interactions with the alternate payment platform 100 may beassociated with a primary transaction facility 114, a secondarytransaction facility 120, a primary offer 164, an alternate offer 160,and the like.

The user 154 may receive, such as through the secondary transactionfacility 120, information associating an alternate offer 160 with aprimary offer 164. The user 154 may evaluate the received information todetermine if the user 154 should accept the alternate offer 160. Theuser 154 may further interact with the alternate payment platform 100 tosearch for an alternate offer 160 based at least in part on a searchcriteria. In an example, the user 154 may access a web page of thesecondary transaction facility 120 and enter offer search criteria suchas keywords. The alternate payment platform 100 may search one or moredatabases of offers to identify one or more offers that match an aspectof the search criteria. The user 154 may review these identified offersand may select zero or more of them.

The user 154 may execute a primary offer 164 directly with a primaryvendor 144. The user 154 may execute the offering through one or moreweb pages, emails, messages, texts, calls, letters, packages, and thelike associated with the primary vendor 144 or the alternate paymentplatform 100.

The user 154 may interact with other participants of the alternatepayment platform 100 such as vendors, facilitators 150, and the like.The mode of interaction may be indistinguishable to the user 154 so thatthe user 154 may perceive that the participant is directly interactingwith them.

The user 154 may be an individual, couple, family, business, non-profit,government agency, government office, public official, and the like.

Aspects of the user 154 may include communications. The communicationsmay be associated with the alternate payment platform 100, a primaryvendor 144, a secondary offeror 148, and the like. The communicationsmay include voice, data, images, text, and the like. User 154 voicecommunication may include voice mail, voice calls, voice recognition,voice prompting, voice responses, and the like. Services and productsassociated with a primary offer 164 or an alternate offer 160 may bedelivered by voice communication. User data communication may includeuser names, passwords, security codes, financial data, numerical data,and the like. Services and/or products associated with a primary 164 oralternate offer 160 may be delivered by data communications. User imagecommunication may include product and service images, diagrams,installation drawings, user images, document images, electronicsignatures, and the like.

Aspects of user 154 communication may include a secondary offer response134 such as a user 154 acceptance of an alternate offer 160. A user 154secondary offer response 134 may include user 154 preferences, opinion,votes, or the like related to one or more secondary offers 160. Thealternate payment platform 100 may use these and other aspects ofsecondary offer communications 158 to facilitate optimizing offers suchas through the offer optimization facility 102.

A user 154 may communicate a secondary offer response 134 in response tothe alternate payment platform 100 presenting one or more selectedoffers 138 to the user 154. A user 154 may alternatively communicate asecondary offer response 134 in response to a communication by thealternate payment platform 100, a primary vendor 144, a secondaryofferor 148, or the like requesting user 154 input. Such a communicationrequest may include an alternate offer 160 that the user 154 may acceptin exchange for the user 154 input.

A user 154 communication may include an alternate offer 160. A user 154alternate offer 160 communication may include presentation of one ormore secondary offers 160. Such communication may occur through awebsite or web pages presented to a user 154 web browser. Web pagesassociated with an alternate offer 160 user 154 communication mayinclude web pages for evaluating and selecting an offer. The web pagesmay include a screen in which a vendor makes an item available, aproduct confirmation screen, a help screen, a user 154 contact inputscreen, a default screen of offerings, a list of all offerings screen, acategory or country filter menu, an offer selection confirmation screen,and the like. The user 154 alternate offer 160 communication may includeimages, text, data, voice, and any combination thereof.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a primary offer 164. Theprimary offer 164 may be any combination of a product, service,information, discount, gift certificate, loan, financial equity,real-estate, futures contract, membership, lottery entry, vacation, andthe like. The primary offer 164 may be represented by a physical itemsuch as a book, a non-physical item such as electronic content (e.g.computer game, image, password), and the like. The value of the primaryoffer 164 may be determined based on a market valuation or may be set bythe primary vendor 144. However, the primary offer 164 value may beunknown such as with a lottery ticket that may be worthless (a losingticket), moderate value (small winning), or large value jackpot winner).

The primary offer 164 may include limits such as use limits associatedwith the offer. Use limits of a primary offer 164 may be related to anaspect of the offer such as time, quantity of uses, functionality,output, accuracy, advertising, and the like.

A primary offer 164 may include one or more of a Book, DVD, Magazine &Newspaper, Music, Textbook, Video download, VHS, Apparel & Accessories,Jewelry & Watches, Shoes, Computer, Office, Software, Audio & Video,Camera & Photo, Cell Phone & Service, Computer & Video Game, MusicalInstrument, Generally, Consumer Electronics, Food, Gourmet Food,Grocery, Pet Supply, Beauty, Heath & Personal Care, Bed & Bath,Furniture & Decor, Home Improvement, Kitchen, Domestic/Home, Outdoors,Garden, Baby, Toy & Game, Exercise & Fitness, Sports & Outdoors,Automotive, Industrial & Scientific, Tools & Hardware, Fresh Flowers &Indoor Plants, Regular Sale Item, Outlet Sale Item, Daily Special Items,Utility, Movies, audiobooks, a media subscription (e.g. a movielink.comsubscription or the like), music tracks, music collections, virtualgoods such as credits, and the like.

A primary offer 164 may include a service such as Accounting, Computer,Consulting, Dating/Match-making, Other Professional, and the like.

A primary offer 164 may include a type of offer such as Specialty Good,Unsought Good (e.g. something that requires a hard sell), PerishableGood, Durable Good, Non-Durable or Consumable Good, Capital Good, Partsand Materials, Supplies and Services, Commodities, By-primary offers164, and the like.

A primary offer 164 may be associated with a Gift, Baby Registry,e-Card, Gift Certificate, Shopping List, Wedding Registry, Wish List,Media Library, Associate Program, Affiliate Program, Subscription, Webstore, Networking site (based on “interests”), Search Query, a blog, orthe like.

A primary offer 164 may be associated with a promotion such asAdvertising, Sales Promotion, Publicity, Personal selling, Internetpromotion, In-store (e.g. voucher & special offers), Loyalty card offer,Competition (in-store, on packaging, or online), Packaging, Press, TVadvertising, Radio, Cinema advertising, Poster/Billboard, Pop-upadvertising, Podcast advertising, Email offer, Blog advertising, and thelike.

The primary offer 164 may include office and personal electronicsproducts; computers such as desktops, notebooks, tablet PCs, personaldigital assistants (PDA), servers, workstations, fax servers,internet-cache servers, barebones systems, POS/kiosk systems; monitors &displays such as CRT monitors, LCD monitors, plasma monitors,projectors; printers such as color laser, mono laser, ink-jet, photoprinters, multifunction units, dot-matrix, plotters, label printers, barcode printers, specialty printers, receipt printers, scanners,point-of-sale printer; software such as antivirus software, businesssoftware, development tools, education & entertainment, graphics &publishing, internet software, network management software, OS &utilities, security; electronics such as digital cameras, film cameras,camcorders, security cameras, games, digital media players, televisions,home audio, home video, home furniture, GPS, telephony, appliances,office equipment; networking such as adapters, client, communications,conferencing, hubs, infrastructure, KVM switches, modems, routers,security, software, switches, test equipment, wireless; storage devicessuch as CD drives, CD-DVD duplicators, CD-DVD servers, DVD drives, fibrechannel switches, flash drives, floppy drives, hard drives,magneto-optical drives, media, network attached storage, removabledrives, SAN equipment, storage enclosures, tape automation, tape drives;accessories such as cables, memory, flash memory, power & surgeprotection, computer components, audio hardware, video hardware,keyboards & mice, batteries, carrying cases, computer accessories,printer supplies, CD-DVD accessories, monitor & display accessories,mounting hardware, camera-camcorder accessories, PDA accessories,network accessories, projector accessories, scanner accessories,computer furniture, phone, cellular accessories, office & cleaningsupplies, and so forth.

The primary offer 164 may also include AV supplies & equipment, basicsupplies & labels, binders & accessories, janitorial, business cases,calendars & planners, custom printing, desk accessories, executivegifts, filing & storage, paper, forms, envelopes, pens, pencils &markers, printer & fax supplies, promotional products, school supplies,phones & accessories, or other products found in office, school, or homeenvironments.

The primary offer 164 may include items such as groceries, produce, cutsof meat, deli products, health and beauty products, clothing, towels,pillows, artwork, models, tableware, collectibles, antiques, pottedplants, financial instruments such as bonds, certificates of deposit,currency, and the like.

A secondary offer 160 may include a trial of downloaded media. Thedownloaded media may include movies, movie trailers, movie collections,still photos, slide shows, audio books, electronic books (e-books),music, music tracks, music collections (albums), and the like. A trialof the downloaded media may include a license for a user 154 to use thedownloaded media for a limited time, or may include access to a portionof the downloaded media (such as a portion of a movie). Another form oftrial of downloaded media may include a chapter of an audio book ore-book, an issue of a periodical publication, and so on.

A primary offer 164 may be delivered by download, file sharing, FTPaccess, email, email attachment, messaging, phone call, streaming audio,streaming video, and the like. A primary offer 164 may be delivered ininstallments such as chapters, sections, and the like. Primary offer 164installments may be delivered on a schedule, based on an event, uponrequest, by default, and the like. A primary offer 164 may be a physicalitem or items, or it may be a digital item or items.

A physical primary offer 164 may be delivered to an address. The addressmay be specified by the user 154. The delivery may be by common carrier,US mail, courier, freight, and the like. The delivery may be subject toterms such as shipping charges, shipping times, and the like. A physicalprimary offer 164 may include compatibility limits such as a physicalsize, weight, a computer memory size, a computer disk storage size, acomputer operating system, a computer browser, and any other attributeor aspect of a computing facility.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a primary offer 164. Aprimary offer 164 may facilitate a user 154 acquiring, accessing,receiving, activating, or otherwise using a primary offer 164. A primaryoffer 164 may result in activating, extending, or making permanent a useof the primary offer 164. In an example, a primary offer 164 may allow auser 154 to use a product (e.g. software) or a service (e.g. access toan investment advice website) for a limited time. As a result ofaccepting an alternate offer 160, a user 154 of the alternate paymentplatform 100 may receive through a primary offer 164, a copy of thesoftware that does not have a time limit, or a password to allowpermanent access to the investment website. Although the example here isfor the user 154 to receive a primary offer 164 that makes the use ofthe primary offer 164 permanent, other types of use extension andactivation may also be included in the primary offer 164. The passwordmay provide a one year membership to the investment website, allowingthe user 154 to access the investment website for 12 months. Thesoftware may be useable permanently but support or updates may belimited to 90 days. Many other primary offerings 168 may be apparentfrom these examples and are included herein.

A primary offer 164 may facilitate acquiring a primary offer 164. A user154 may use the alternate payment platform 100 when accepting a primaryoffer 164, such as when performing an ecommerce transaction to acquire,lease, or temporarily use the primary offer 164. The primary offer 164may provide information to the user 154 that may allow a user 154 toacquire the primary offer 164. Such information may include a proof ofpurchase, an in-store pickup authorization, a payment authorization, acertificate redeemable for the primary offer 164, a credit 140 to anaccount, and the like. In an example, a user 154 may accept an alternateoffer 160 to purchase a primary offer 164 with the user's 154 credit 140account provided by the primary vendor 144. The alternate offer 160 mayfurther provide a refund of the primary offer 164 purchase price to thecredit 140 account. The primary offer 164 may include informationconfirming the purchase price being charged to the credit 140 accountand the refund.

In another example, the primary offer 164 may include primary offer 164package shipment confirmation and tracking information. The shippinginformation in the primary offer 164 could facilitate a user 154receiving the primary offer 164. If the primary offer 164 is a gift foranother individual from the user 154, the primary offer 164 couldrepresent a confirmation of shipment of the gift.

A primary offer 164 may include a temporary extension of authorizationfor use of the primary offer 164 associated with a conditionallyaccepted alternate offer 160. The extension may be based at least on atime required for a secondary offeror 148 to complete an assessment of auser's 154 acceptance of the alternate offer 160. If the secondaryofferor 148 approves the accepted alternate offer 160, the primary offer164 may include a permanent extension, replacement of authorization, orthe like. The primary transaction facility 114 may provide anotification to the user 154 associated with the conditional acceptance.The notification may include information related to instructions forreceiving the primary offer 164 once the user's 154 accepted offer isapproved by the secondary offeror 148.

A primary offer 164 may be communicated to the user 154 by the primaryvendor 144, the alternate payment platform 100, or a combinationthereof.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include an alternate offer 160.The alternate offer 160 may be any combination of a product, service,information, discount, gift certificate, loan, financial equity,real-estate, futures contract, membership, lottery entry, vacation, andthe like. The alternate offer 160 may be represented by a physical itemsuch as a book, a non-physical item such as electronic content (e.g.computer game, image, password), and the like. The value of thealternate offer 160 may be determined based on a market valuation or maybe set by the secondary offeror 148. However, the alternate offer 160value may be unknown such as with a lottery ticket that may be worthless(a losing ticket), moderate value (small winning), or large valuejackpot winner).

The alternate offer 160 may include limits such as use limits associatedwith the offer. Use limits of an alternate offer 160 may be related toan aspect of the offer such as time, quantity of uses, functionality,output, accuracy, advertising, and the like.

An alternate offer 160 may include one or more of a Book, DVD, Magazine& Newspaper, Music, Textbook, Video download, VHS, Apparel &Accessories, Jewelry & Watches, Shoes, Computer, Office, Software, Audio& Video, Camera & Photo, Cell Phone & Service, Computer & Video Game,Musical Instrument, Generally, Consumer Electronics, Food, Gourmet Food,Grocery, Pet Supply, Beauty, Heath & Personal Care, Bed & Bath,Furniture & Decor, Home Improvement, Kitchen, Domestic/Home, Outdoors,Garden, Baby, Toy & Game, Exercise & Fitness, Sports & Outdoors,Automotive, Industrial & Scientific, Tools & Hardware, Fresh Flowers &Indoor Plants, Regular Sale Item, Outlet Sale Item, Daily Special Item,Utility, Movies, audio books, a media subscription (e.g. a movielink.comsubscription or the like), music tracks, music collections, and thelike.

A primary offer 164 may include a service such as Accounting, Computer,Consulting, Dating/Match-making, Other Professional, and the like.

An alternate offer 160 may include a type of offer such as SpecialtyGood, Unsought Good (e.g. something that requires a hard sell),Perishable Good, Durable Good, Non-Durable or Consumable Good, CapitalGood, Parts and Materials, Supplies and Services, Commodities,By-primary offers 164, and the like.

An alternate offer 160 may be associated with a Gift, Baby Registry,e-Card, Gift Certificate, Shopping List, Wedding Registry, Wish List,Media Library, Associate Program, Affiliate Program, Subscription, Webstore, Networking site (based on “interests”), Search Query, a blog, orthe like.

An alternate offer 160 may be associated with a promotion such asAdvertising, Sales Promotion, Publicity, Personal selling, Internetpromotion, In-store (e.g. voucher & special offers), Loyalty card offer,Competition (in-store, on packaging, or online), Packaging, Press, TVadvertising, Radio, Cinema advertising, Poster/Billboard, Pop-upadvertising, Podcast advertising, Email offer, Blog advertising, and thelike.

The alternate offer 160 may include office and personal electronicsproducts; computers such as desktops, notebooks, tablet PCs, personaldigital assistants (PDA), servers, workstations, fax servers,internet-cache servers, barebones systems, POS/kiosk systems; monitors &displays such as CRT monitors, LCD monitors, plasma monitors,projectors; printers such as color laser, mono laser, ink-jet, photoprinters, multifunction units, dot-matrix, plotters, label printers, barcode printers, specialty printers, receipt printers, scanners,point-of-sale printer; software such as antivirus software, businesssoftware, development tools, education & entertainment, graphics &publishing, internet software, network management software, OS &utilities, security; electronics such as digital cameras, film cameras,camcorders, security cameras, games, digital media players, televisions,home audio, home video, home furniture, GPS, telephony, appliances,office equipment; networking such as adapters, client, communications,conferencing, hubs, infrastructure, KVM switches, modems, routers,security, software, switches, test equipment, wireless; storage devicessuch as CD drives, CD-DVD duplicators, CD-DVD servers, DVD drives, fibrechannel switches, flash drives, floppy drives, hard drives,magneto-optical drives, media, network attached storage, removabledrives, SAN equipment, storage enclosures, tape automation, tape drives;accessories such as cables, memory, flash memory, power & surgeprotection, computer components, audio hardware, video hardware,keyboards & mice, batteries, carrying cases, computer accessories,printer supplies, CD-DVD accessories, monitor & display accessories,mounting hardware, camera-camcorder accessories, PDA accessories,network accessories, projector accessories, scanner accessories,computer furniture, phone, cellular accessories, office & cleaningsupplies, and so forth.

The alternate offer 160 may also include AV supplies & equipment, basicsupplies & labels, binders & accessories, janitorial, business cases,calendars & planners, custom printing, desk accessories, executivegifts, filing & storage, paper, forms, envelopes, pens, pencils &markers, printer & fax supplies, promotional products, school supplies;phones & accessories, or other products found in office, school, or homeenvironments.

The alternate offer 160 may include items such as groceries, produce,cuts of meat, deli products, health and beauty products, clothing,towels, pillows, artwork, models, tableware, collectibles, antiques,potted plants, financial instruments such as bonds, certificates ofdeposit, currency, and the like.

A secondary offer may include a trial of downloaded media. Thedownloaded media may include movies, movie trailers, movie collections,still photos, slide shows, audio books, electronic books (e-books),music, music tracks, music collections (albums), and the like. A trialof the downloaded media may include the user 154 receiving a license touse the downloaded media for a limited time, may include access to aportion of the downloaded media (such as a portion of a movie), and soon. Another form of trial of downloaded media may include a chapter ofan audio book or e-book, an issue of a periodical publication, and thelike.

An alternate offer 160 may be delivered by download, file sharing, FTPaccess, email, email attachment, messaging, phone call, streaming audio,streaming video, and the like. An alternate offer 160 may be deliveredin installments such as chapters, sections, and the like. Alternateoffer 160 installments may be delivered on a schedule, based on anevent, upon request, by default, and the like. An alternate offer 160may be a physical item or items, or it may be a digital item or items.

A physical alternate offer 160 may be delivered to an address. Theaddress may be specified by the user 154. The delivery may be by commoncarrier, US mail, courier, freight, and the like. The delivery may besubject to terms such as shipping charges, shipping times, and the like.A physical alternate offer 160 may include compatibility limits such asa physical size, weight, a computer memory size, a computer disk storagesize, a computer operating system, a computer browser, and any otherattribute or aspect of a computing facility.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a secondary offering 170.A secondary offering 170 may facilitate a user 154 acquiring, accessing,receiving, activating, or otherwise using an alternate offer 160. Asecondary offering 170 may result in activating, extending, or makingpermanent a use of the alternate offer 160. In an example, an alternateoffer 160 may allow a user 154 to use a product (e.g. software) or aservice (e.g. access to an investment advice website) for a limitedtime. As a result of accepting an alternate offer 160, a user 154 of thealternate payment platform 100 may receive through a secondary offering170, a copy of the software that does not have a time limit, or apassword to allow permanent access to the investment website. Althoughthe example here is for the user 154 to receive a secondary offering 170that makes the use of the alternate offer 160 permanent, other types ofuse extension and activation may also be included in the secondaryoffering 170. The password may provide a one year membership to theinvestment website, allowing the user 154 to access the investmentwebsite for 12 months. The software may be useable permanently butsupport or updates may be limited to 90 days. Many other secondaryofferings 160 may be apparent from these examples and are includedherein.

A secondary transaction facility 120 may facilitate completing anexecution of an alternate offer 160. The alternate offer 160 mayfacilitate performing an ecommerce transaction to acquire, lease, ortemporarily use the alternate offer 160. The secondary transactionfacility 120 may provide information to the user 154 that may allow auser 154 to complete an execution of the alternate offer 160. Suchinformation may include a proof of purchase, an in-store pickupauthorization, a payment authorization, a certificate redeemable for theprimary offer 164, a credit 140 to an account, and the like. In anexample, a user 154 may accept an alternate offer 160 to purchase aprimary offer 164 by opening a credit 140 account with the secondaryofferor 148.

An alternate offer 160 may further provide a refund of the primary offer164 purchase price to the credit 140 account. The alternate offer 160may include information confirming the purchase price being charged tothe credit 140 account and the refund.

In another example, the alternate offer 160 may include alternate offer160 package shipment confirmation and tracking information. The shippinginformation in the alternate offer 160 could facilitate a user 154receiving the alternate offer 160. If the alternate offer 160 is a giftfor another individual from the user 154, the secondary offering 170could represent a confirmation of shipment of the gift.

An alternate offer 160 may include a temporary extension ofauthorization for use of the alternate offer 160 associated with aconditionally accepted alternate offer 160. The extension may be basedat least on a time required for a secondary offeror 148 to complete anassessment of a user's 154 completion of the alternate offer 160. If thesecondary offeror 148 approves the accepted alternate offer 160 (incases where approval is required), the alternate offer 160 may includeterms for a permanent extension, replacement of authorization, or thelike. The secondary transaction facility 120 may provide a notificationto the user 154 associated with the conditional acceptance. Thenotification may include information related to instructions forreceiving the alternate offer 160 once their accepted offer is approvedby the secondary offeror 148.

An alternate offer 160 may be communicated to the user 154 by thesecondary offeror 148, the alternate payment platform 100, or acombination thereof.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include promotions. Promotionsmay be associated with a primary offer 164, a primary vendor 144, analternate offer 160, a secondary offeror 148, a facilitator 150, thealternate payment platform 100, and the like. In an example, a primaryoffer 164 may include a book. A user 154 may be offered a promotion of aDVD version of the book in exchange for the user 154 evaluatingalternate offers 160 via the alternate payment platform 100. Uponcompletion of an evaluation of the alternate platform 100 (which mayinclude the user 154 providing input and necessary user 154 contactinformation), the alternate payment platform 100 may facilitatedelivering the DVD to the user 154.

An alternate offer 160 presented to a user 154 of the alternate paymentplatform 100 may be associated with this primary offer 164 to develop apromotion that may include a DVD version of the primary offer 164 book.The DVD may be provided to the user 154 once the user 154 has acceptedan alternate offer 160. The DVD may be in addition to any product orservice included with the alternate offer 160.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include an offer bidding module124. The offer bidding module 124 may be associated with a secondaryofferor 148 through a secondary offeror interface 118, an offer searchmodule 130, and other aspects of the alternate payment platform 100 suchas one or more databases. The offer bidding module 124 may facilitatebidding related to secondary offers 160. Bidding may be useful indetermining alternate offer 160 placement in a presentation of secondaryoffers 160 to a user 154. Bidding may also be useful to the alternatepayment platform 100 in selecting one or more offers to present to auser 154. Bidding may also facilitate optimizing secondary offers 160.

The bidding module 124 may receive bids from secondary offerors 148 thatrelate to specific secondary offers 160, or that relate to any alternateoffer 160 from the secondary offeror 148. The bidding module 124 maycompare bids to facilitate ranking the bids and associated offers basedat least partially on the bid amount. A bid may include a presentationamount to be paid upon confirmation of a placement to a user 154, anacceptance amount to be paid upon user acceptance of the offer, anapproval amount to be paid upon approval of the user's 154 acceptance ofthe offer, and any other amount such as a marketing fee, a transactionfee, and the like.

Bid amounts may be based on quality of users 154 accepting secondaryoffers, volume of use acceptances, and the like. In an example, a user154 from a particular primary vendor 144 may be significantly moreaffluent and thus have a greater ability to transact with a secondaryofferor 148, than a user 154 from a different primary vendor. Thesecondary offeror 148 may be willing to bid more for this user 154 fromthe higher quality primary vendor 144.

The bidding module 124 may process the bids including associating bidswith secondary offers 160, secondary offerors 148, and the like for useby the offer search facility 130, the offer optimization facility 102,offer selection and display facility 104, and the like. The biddingmodule 124 may also store information such as bids, bid history, and thelike in one or more databases of the alternate payment platform 100.

For example and without limitation, a participant of the alternatepayment platform 100 such as a secondary offeror 148 may place a bidwith the bidding module 124 to obtain a preferred placement of an offerin a presentation of offers to a user 154. The bidding module 124 maydetermine that an aspect of this bid, such as the amount of the bid,enables the alternate payment platform 100 to fulfill the preferredplacement of the offer associated with the bid. Upon selection of theoffer by the offer selection and display facility 104, and presentationof the offer by the secondary transaction facility 120, the offer wouldbe presented to the user 154 in the preferred placement. The preferredplacement may include preferred presentation such as ranking in a list,highlighting, images, font, animation, and the like that maydifferentiate this offer from other offers.

A secondary offer's 160 placement preference may be affected by bidflexibility. Bid flexibility may be related to an alternate offer 160, asecondary offeror 148, or other elements of the secondary offer process.Bid flexibility may be specified when a bid is placed or may be based ona secondary offeror 148 preference. Bid flexibility may include amaximum number of times the bid will automatically be increased (kicks)to keep pace with other bids. Bid flexibility may also include an amountper kick, a total kick amount, a maximum bid amount, or any combinationthereof.

A secondary offeror 148 may specify the bid flexibility as a preferencethat may apply to all secondary offer bids placed by the advertiser. Thesecondary offeror 148 may use the secondary offeror interface 118 tospecify bid flexibility preferences.

Secondary offers 160 associated with highly flexible bids may beprovided higher placement preferences. For example, a bid with a 50%upside bid amount flexibility may be placed ahead of an identical bidwith only 20% upside bid amount. In this way, secondary offerors 148 whoare willing to spend more per secondary offer may be receive improvedplacement relative to other secondary offerors 148.

In addition to considering bid flexibility in alternate offer 160placement, the performance of the secondary offeror 148 and thealternate offer 160 may be included in placement preference. It may beunderstood that a factor in the likelihood that a secondary offer 148will be accepted is a previous performance measurement associated withthe offer. For example, a secondary offer with a high number ofacceptances from previous placements may be highly placed in a newsecondary offer. Also, a high number of alternate offer 160 placementsmay improve the placement of future secondary offers 160 from thesecondary offeror 148.

Some factors that may affect a secondary offer's 160 placement may alsoaffect amounts debited from a secondary offeror 148 that is associatedwith the secondary offer's 160 placement. Factors such as click-throughs(user selections) of secondary offers 160 may indicate a relevanceand/or user interest in the secondary offer 160. Although a high (orrelatively advantageous) placement of an alternate offer 160 may bevaluable to a secondary offeror 148, engaging the user 154 in furtherevaluation of the alternate offer 160 may be of value even if the user154 does not accept the alternate offer 160. For example, a user 154 whoclicks through (selects) an alternate offer 160 may be presented withfurther details about the offer as well as other information that thesecondary offeror 148 may deem to be relevant. In this way, thesecondary offeror 148 may gain the attention of the potential newcustomer. This may provide some measurable value to the secondaryofferor 148.

The secondary offeror 148 may be willing to pay a fee based on clickthrough rates as measured daily, weekly, monthly, or the like. The feethat the secondary offeror 148 is willing to pay may be debited 142 fromthe secondary offeror 148 on a schedule, based on a volume, based on anevent such as an alternate offer 160 acceptance, and so on. A debitamount may be associated with each click through and may be accumulatedover time (an accumulation interval may include hours, day, week, month,et cetera) by the secondary transaction facility 120. The debit amountmay be debited 142 at least once per accumulation interval.Alternatively, a secondary offeror 148 may specify that click throughdebits may be accumulated and added to debits made for accepted offers.

In an example, the alternate payment platform 100 may receive a user 154request for an ecommerce transaction. The alternate payment platform 100may select a non-monetary compensation offer through an automatedecommerce bidding process included in the bidding module 124. Thealternate payment platform 100 may present the selected non-monetarycompensation offer to the user 154.

The bidding module 124 may be embodied as an automatic service, such asand without limitation according to a service-oriented architecture orany other computing architecture.

The bidding module 124 may facilitate a secondary offeror 148 biddingfor alternate offer 160 placement. The bidding module may interact withthe primary transaction facility 114 and other elements of the alternatepayment platform 100 such as user demographics 174, user transactionhistory (including alternate payment history), one or more databases ofthe alternate payment platform 100, the offer optimization facility 102,and the offer selection and display facility 104, and any other elementas needed to facilitate offer bidding.

The bidding module 124 may compute a consumer score for a user 154seeking to alternatively purchase a primary offer 164. The consumerscore may be useful in facilitating offer bidding. To compute theconsumer score, the bidding module 124 may assess information related tothe primary offer 164 and the active user 154. The bidding module 124may receive information about a primary offer transaction from theprimary transaction facility 114. The information may include theprimary vendor 144, primary offer 164, and the user 154. The biddingmodule may retrieve the user's 154 transaction history from one or moreof the databases of the alternate payment platform 100. The biddingmodule may also retrieve the user's 154 demographics 174. The biddingmodule may combine the information about the primary offer 164, the user154 transaction history, and the active user demographics 174 to computethe user's 154 consumer score. In an example, an user 154 may be seekingto alternatively purchase a subscription to Zagat.com. The user's 154transaction history may show the user accepted secondary offers 160 forthree previous transactions with an average alternate offer 160 usercost of $75. The user's 154 demographics may indicate the user's 154address as an upper middleclass suburb of Boston, Mass. Based on thisexample user information, the bidding module 124 may compute a consumerscore as eight points out of a possible ten points. The bidding module124 may present this consumer score to a plurality of secondary offerors148 through the bidding module 124 so that the secondary offeror 148 maybid to present an alternate offer 160 to the user 154. The consumerscore may refer to one or more defined characteristics of the user 154.A high consumer score may be a strong indication of that particular user154 characteristic while a low consumer may represent an absence of thatparticular characteristic. The consumer score may be an aggregation ofmultiple similar consumer scores relating to different characteristicsof the user 154. Furthermore, these scores may be valued differently bysecondary offerors 148 such that one secondary offeror 148 may pay apremium for a particular score while another secondary offeror 148 willnot. In this way, a secondary offeror 148 can bid on the consumer scoresthat best relate to type of user 154 the secondary offer 148 seeks toattract. In this document consumer score refers to an individualconsumer score relating to a particular characteristic of the user 154,or an aggregation of consumer scores that may be refer to the overallcharacteristics of the user 154 and may be the weighted sum of theindividual consumer scores.

A secondary offeror 148 may place multiple bids for multiple differentconsumer scores relating to various aspects of a user 154. For example,a secondary offeror 148 may place a bid for high consumer scoresrelating to the female gender and may also place a bid for high consumerscores relating to high household income.

Some or all of the plurality of secondary offerors 148 may bid to offerthe user 154 an alternate offer 160. The secondary offerors 148 mayadjust a bid amount based on the consumer score of the user 154. Forexample, a secondary offeror 148 may bid $20 to offer an alternate offer160 to an user 154 with a consumer score of four. However, the samesecondary offeror 148 may bid $50 for an user 154 with a consumer scoreof eight. The secondary offerors 148 may also include a conversion rateassociated with a bid, where the conversion rate is a measure of thelikelihood that a secondary offer 160 (associated with the bid) will becompleted by the target user 154 (associated with the bid). An expectedvalue based on a function of the bid and the conversion rate may becomputed by the bidding module 124 for each bid received. The secondaryofferor 148 bid, rate, expected value, and alternate offer 160information may be shared with the optimization facility 102.Alternatively, the expected value may not be computed by the biddingmodule 124. Instead, the optimization facility may compute the expectedvalue.

Through the bidding module 124 computation of a consumer value for theuser 154, and the secondary offerors 148 placing bids and associatedconversion rates for the user 154, the optimization facility 102 may nowoptimize among secondary offers 160 each with a computed expected value.Offer optimization may be directed toward maximizing the expected valuethat may be shared with the primary vendor 144 for the user transaction.To maximize the expected value of a user transaction, the offeroptimization facility 102 may rank the offers based on expected value sothat the offer selection and display facility 104 may select the topranked offers for prominent presentation to the user 154. In an example,the table below shows bids and conversion rates of six secondaryofferors 148 for the user with a consumer rating of eight/ten in theexample above.

Secondary Offer Bid Example

Secondary offeror Bid Amount Conversion Rate Expected value Cingular $505% $2.50 Verizon $55 4% 2.20 Discover $80 2% 1.60 American Express $1201% 1.20 RealRhapsody $30 10% 3.00 Stamps.com $40 5% 2.00

The offer optimization facility 102 (or the bidding module 124) maycompute the expected value as shown in the table and forward theCingular and the RealRhapsody offers as optimized offers 132 to theoffer selection and display facility 104. The selection and displayfacility 104 may select one or more of the optimized offers 132 and sendthem to the secondary transaction facility 120 as selected offer(s) 138for presentation to the user 154. The remaining four offers may not bepresented to the user 154 unless the user rejects the Cingular and theRealRhapsody secondary offers 160. However, the remaining four offersmay be presented to the user 154 along with the Cingular andRealRhapsody offers in a less prominent way such as by smaller print,lower order in a list, and the like. The bidding module 124 may providereal-time feedback to the secondary offeror 148 as to the potentialimpact in offer performance that may result from an increased bid. Forexample, a message may be sent to the secondary offeror 148 indicatingthat an increase of a given amount will make a particular alternateoffer 160 the highest ranked offer on a page.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include an offer search facility130. The offer search facility 130 may communicate with aspects of thealternate payment platform 100 such as a bidding module 124, the offeroptimization facility 102, the offer selection and display facility 104,various databases of the alternate payment platform 100, external offerdatabases 152, and the like. The offer search facility 130 may comprisesearch techniques such as text string matching, to identify one or moreoffers from a plurality of offer databases 152. Searching by the offersearch facility 130 may be performed as a result of an event or arequest. A search event may include receiving a user 154 request for anecommerce transaction, such as acquiring a primary offer 164 using thealternate payment platform 100. A search event may be a vendorregistering with the alternate payment platform 100, a vendorintroducing the alternate payment platform 100 to a new primary offer164 or a new alternate offer 160, a user 154 rejecting all offerspresented through the secondary transaction facility 120, a schedulesuch as a date and time, and the like. The search request may includeany participant, including a user 154 of the alternate payment platform100 sending the alternate payment platform 100 a request to perform anoffer search.

The offer search facility 130 may maintain a directory of offerdatabases 152. Vendors and facilitators 150 may provide input to thedirectory so that new offer databases 152 may be searched by the searchfacility 130. The search facility 130 may search through specific offerdatabases 152 such as those in the directory. Additionally, the searchfacility 130 may also search throughout a network, such as the internet,for offers or offer databases 152 that have a relevance to the alternatepayment platform 100.

Changes to offer databases 152 may be provided to the offer searchfacility 130 through a variety of notifications. In an example, an RSSfeed of updates to one or more of the offer databases 152 may bemonitored by the search facility 130.

The offer search facility 130 may also include information provided bybidding module 124 in identifying offers for possible presentation tousers 154.

The offer search facility 130 may also receive a request from the offerselection and display facility 104 to retrieve one or more offers fromone or more of the offer databases 152. Upon receiving the request, theoffer search facility 130 may access the appropriate offer databases152, retrieve the offer, and present it to the offer selection anddisplay facility 104 for use in a presentation to a user 154, forexample.

In an example, the alternate payment platform 100 may receive a user 154request for an ecommerce transaction. The offer search facility 130 maysearch a plurality of databases for non-monetary compensation offers tobe presented to the user 154 as further incentive to complete thetransaction. The offer search facility 130 may retrieve at least onenon-monetary compensation offer from the plurality of databases, andpresent it to the user through the alternate payment platform 100.

The offer search facility 130 may be embodied as an automatic service,such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include a lead generationfacility 172 for developing leads of users 154 that may appeal to one ormore vendors such as primary vendors 144 and secondary offerors 148. Thelead generation facility may communicate with users 154, and aspects ofthe alternate payment platform 100 such as the offer optimizationfacility 102, the offer selection and display facility 104, and thelike.

The lead generation facility 172 may process primary offers 164 andsecondary offers 160 to generate criteria for lead generation. Thecriteria may include aspects of the offers such as user 154 cost,geographic limits, user demographics 174, and the like. The leadgeneration facility 172 may generate a lead that may contain user 154contact information such as an email address, or messaging username,telephone number, and the like, so that the generated lead has arelevance to a primary offer 164 or an alternate offer 160.

Users may be contacted by the lead generation facility 172 based ontheir email address being known to the lead generation facility 172 suchas would be the case if a user 154 had registered with the alternatepayment platform 100. The lead generation facility 172 may contact usersthrough a variety of other methods including, telephone, text message,instant message, and the like. User contact may include offerpromotional material such as an advertisement for the offer. If thepromotional material appeals to the user 154, he/she may respond andthereby generate an acceptance of an alternate offer 160 of thealternate payment platform 100. This acceptance may result in thesecondary offeror 148 associated with the secondary offer 100 paying thealternate payment platform 100 a fee for providing the lead.

The lead generation facility 172 may match one or more aspects of anoffer to one or more aspects of a user 154 so that the offer 160 mayappeal to the user 154.

The lead generation facility 172 may be embodied as an automaticservice, such as and without limitation according to a service-orientedarchitecture or any other computing architecture

The alternate payment platform 100 may include external offer databases152. The external offer databases 152 may be accessible by the alternatepayment platform 100 through the offer search facility 130. The externaloffer databases 152 may be configured as a collection of records storedin one or more computers in a systematic way, so that a computer programsuch as the offer search facility 130 consult it to find offers.However, any collection, list, single entry, or other logically relatedgroup of offers may comprise the external offer databases 152.

One or more of the external offer databases 152 may be establishedand/or maintained by the alternate payment platform 100. This may beused as a primary store of offers by the alternate payment platform 100or it may be a backup or secondary store of offers.

An external offer database 152 may be established and/or maintained by avendor such as a secondary offeror 148 or an offer consolidator 180. Thedatabase 152 may be maintained such that, from time to time, offers maybe added, removed, or changed. The addition, removal, or change of anoffer in one or more of the external offer databases 152 may result in asignal, such as an RSS feed being sent to the alternate payment platform100.

In addition to offers being stored in an external offer database 152,the alternate payment platform 100 or a vendor may also storeinformation related to offers such as bid amounts, payment terms,account numbers, contact information, offer performance, user 154acceptance information, and the like. Including this additionalinformation in one or more of the external offer databases 152 mayfacilitate communicating the information between a vendor and thealternate payment platform 100. In an example, the offer search facility130 may retrieve an offer and associated information as herein describedfrom an external offer database 152 for processing by the offeroptimization facility 102.

External offer databases 152 may be distributed and/or duplicated tofacilitate timely searching and retrieval of information in thedatabases. In an embodiment including a plurality of alternate paymentplatforms 100, information may be stored in the external offer databases152 to facilitate coordination of access among the alternate paymentplatforms 100. Alternatively, the alternate payment platform 100 maycoordinate access separately from the external offer databases 152.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include user demographics 174.User demographics 174 communicate with aspects of the alternate paymentplatform 100 such as offer optimization facility 102, offer selectionand display facility 104, vendor reporting 110, and the like. Userdemographics 174 may be stored in a database that may be accessible tothe alternate payment platform 100 at all times. The user demographics174 database may be external to the alternate payment platform 100 andmay be established and/or maintained by a user demographics provider.Alternatively, the alternate payment platform 100 may establish and/ormaintain a user demographics 174 database.

As herein described the offer optimization facility 102 and the offerselection and display facility 104 may use user demographics 174 inoptimizing and selecting offers for presentation to a user 154. The userdemographics 174 may facilitate presenting offers to a user 154 thathave a relevance of some importance to the user 154. In an example, anoffer for fly fishing equipment may have an important relevance to auser 154 with demographic aspects that may characterize the user ashaving an interest in outdoor participatory sports.

User demographics 174 may include a user's 154 individual demographicvariables such as age, sex, race, religion, an area code, zip code, ahome address, a work address, a billing address, credit information,family information, income range, birth date range, birthplace,employer, job title, length of employment, an affiliation, or other suchinformation as described herein.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include one or more paymentfacilitators 178. The payment facilitators 178 may communicate withusers 154 and the alternate payment platform 100 such as through thesecondary transaction facility 120. Payment facilitators 178 mayfacilitate a user 154 acquiring a primary offer 164 through thealternate payment platform 100 by handling an aspect of the user 154payment such as a credit transaction and the like. A payment facilitator178 may allow a user 154 who does not choose an alternate offer 160 butwho does not want to pay the amount proposed by the primary vendor 144for the primary offer 164. The user 154 may choose to use the paymentfacilitator 178 of the alternate payment platform 100 because an aspectof a transaction with the payment facilitator 178 is viewed as favorableto the user.

In an example of using the payment facilitator 178 with the alternatepayment platform 100, a user 154 may be presented the option of paying aone time payment of $1175 to the primary vendor 144 for the primaryoffer 164, selecting an alternate offer 160, or using a paymentfacilitator 178. However, the user 154 does not want to accept analternate offer 160. Instead, the user 154 selects to accept the paymentfacilitator 178 terms that may include making 7 equal payments of $25each over a 7 month billing period. The payment facilitator 178 mayrequire the user 154 to use a specific type of payment such as a creditcard that may benefit the payment facilitator 178. The paymentfacilitator 178 may pay the alternate payment platform 100 a fee forfacilitating the transaction with the user 154.

A payment facilitator 178 may be a credit card company, a bank, alending company, a government agency, a non-profit organization, anindividual, a credit union, an employer of the user 154, a socialnetwork, and the like. In an example, a secondary offeror 148 may offeran alternate offer 160 in association with a payment facilitator 178.The offer may provide the user 154 a discounted purchase price for theprimary offer 164 if they agree to open a credit card account with thepayment facilitator 178 and use the credit card to purchase the primaryoffer 164. The secondary offeror 148, and/or the payment facilitator 178may pay the alternate payment platform 100 for the user 154 completingthe secondary transaction and using the payment facilitator 178.

The alternate payment platform 100 may be configured by a retailer thatsells products or services and extends credit to the purchaser for sucha sale. The alternate payment platform 100 may facilitate such atransaction when, for example, the retailer is configured as a primaryvendor 144 and the retailer credit service is configured as a paymentfacilitator 178.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include offer consolidators 180.Offer consolidators 180 may communicate with one or more secondaryofferors 148 and one or more alternate payment platforms 100. An offerconsolidator 180 may coordinate offers such as secondary offers 160 fromsecondary offerors 148 to enable users 154 to take advantage of theoffers. An offer consolidator 180 may handle aspects of the offer suchas user registration, offer approval, offer delivery, alternate paymentplatform 100 payment, and so on. An offer consolidator 180 may performthese and other functions for a fee paid by the secondary offerors 148.

An offer consolidator 180 may provide benefits of consolidating offersfrom different aspects of a vendor's business while maintaining aconsistent methodology and standards for the offers. In an example, anoffer consolidator 180 may manage offers from a secondary offeror 148 sothat a single offer may be adjusted for different geographic regions.For example, the payment associated with an alternate offer 160 may bedifferent with respect to accepting users 154 from different regions,the price of the primary offer 164 may vary by region, or the like.

Offer consolidators 180 may also provide additional services such asconsolidating offers from a plurality of secondary offerors 148.

Referring to FIG. 5, which is a table depicting various facilitatordebits 142, debits 142 from secondary offerors 148 may be volume driven.The payment table 200 may be used to determine which offers may providebenefits of being optimized within the alternative payment platform 100.Current traffic/payout 202 may be compared to next tier pricing 204 tofacilitate selecting an alternate offer 160. FIG. 5 shows that payoutswill be optimized by increasing traffic by 200 to an alternate offer 160that is associated with eBay. Once an alternate offer 160 has beenoptimized to a next tier pricing 204, new calculations may determine howto further direct traffic to alternative payment secondary offers 160and thus optimize debits 142 from secondary offerors 148. Thealternative payment platform 100 may facilitate and/or manageoptimization of debits 142 across any or all primary vendors 144 andsecondary offerors 148.

The following are examples from a user 154 perspective of thealternative payment platform 100.

In an example, a user 154 may receive a trial of the online edition ofthe Boston Globe by providing an alternative payment, without having toprovide a financial payment or any other form of payment or submit toany other contractual obligation. The user can receive the onlineedition of the Boston Globe for the trial period. At one or more timesbefore or after the trial period ends, the user may receive an offer toextend the trial offer for some period of time or to extend it inperpetuity in exchange for completing one or more offers (which may beassociated with and/or comprise an alternative payment). The one or moreoffers may be free and may not obligate the user to any financialpayment. Such an offer may include signing up for a trial of the onlineedition of the New York Times. In this example, the user has made acommitment to sign up for the online edition of the New York Times inexchange for an extension as herein disclosed of the online edition ofthe Boston Globe.

Embodiments of the present invention may present a user with somethingthat he wants to buy. For example and without limitation, a user maydownload a trial copy of software, such as electronic FAX software. Thetrial copy includes a temporary license to use the software for alimited time. At each startup of the trial copy of software, the user isoffered the opportunity to convert the temporary license into apermanent license in exchange for completing an offer to sign up for afree subscription to an on-line business journal. The offer to sign upfor the free business journal subscription may be a limited time offer.In this example, the free business journal subscription offer may belimited to the same time period as the FAX software trial copy limitedtime. Many other examples of presenting the user with something that hewants to buy will be appreciated. All such examples are within the scopeof the present disclosure.

An alternate offer 160 made in exchange for converting a primary offer164 from a limited trial to unlimited usage may itself be limited. Theoffer 160 may be limited in time, such as 24 hours or the length of timeof the limited primary offer 164, or some other time as may bedetermined by the facilitator 150 and/or the secondary offeror 148. Theoffer 160 limit may be associated with an event such as an event at aspecific future time, or a conditional event such as a predeterminednumber of other users 154 accepting the offer 160. The offer 160 limitmay be associated with an aspect of the relationship between the user154 and the secondary offeror 148, such as the user 154 may not alreadybe known to the secondary offeror 148 through a similar offer. In suchan event the facilitator 150 may allow the user 154 to select anotheroffer 160.

In embodiments, a customer may pay for a first item and receive boththat item and a second item. Thus, paying for the first item mayrepresent an alternative form of payment for the second item. Forexample and without limitation, a customer looking to purchase ansubscription to an online newspaper may accept an alternate offer 160 tosign-up for a weekly wine club, perhaps at a much greater cost than theonline newspaper subscription alone. Many other such examples will beappreciated and all such examples are within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A user 154 of the alternate payment platform 100 may interact with theplatform 100 through a computing facility connected to the Internet. Viathis facility, the user 154 may view and interact with various userinterfaces associated with the alternate payment platform 100 forevaluating alternative payment secondary offers 160 and/or selecting anoffer 160. FIGS. 3 through 12 depict screenshots of exemplary webpagesof the alternate payment platform 100. It will be appreciated that,throughout this disclosure and elsewhere, the word “screen” may be usedto refer to “screenshot of a webpage” and that the word “webpage” mayrefer to a particular embodiment of a user interface of the presentinvention that may, in alternate embodiments, be provided according toother user interface conventions that may or may not be webpages.

FIG. 6 depicts a screen (i.e. a screenshot of a webpage) in which avendor makes an item available and associates it with the alternatepayment platform 100. In embodiments, the vendor may provide thiswebpage and/or the alternate payment platform 100 may provide thiswebpage. Such a screen may be a webpage derived from a primary vendor's144 website, which may, in embodiments, comprise an e-commerce website.On this webpage, the user 154 is introduced to an alternate way ofreceiving the desired primary offer 164, the alternate payment platform100. The screen may include a brief description of an aspect of thealternate payment platform 100 that may be directed at educating a user154 to make a selection 302.

A user 154 is presented the screen of FIG. 7 when, for example, the user154 has previously chosen the selection 302, as described hereinabovewith reference to FIG. 6. The screen of FIG. 7 facilitates a user's 154confirming the primary offer 164 that the user 154 is acquiring with thealternate payment platform 100. The screen shows the user 154 a normalprice 402 and an alternate payment platform 100 price 404. In theexample of FIG. 7, the alternate payment platform 100 price 404 is$0.00, indicating that the user 154 will receive the primary offer 164for free. In embodiments, the alternate payment platform 100 price 404may be any value, including values that are greater than or less thanzero. The normal price 402 and the alternate payment platform 100 price404 may also be presented in a currency other than dollars. The currencymay be determined based on a relevance to an aspect of the user 154,such as the user's location. Other representations of prices, includingterms such as “Free” and the like may be included in this screen.Alternatively, only the normal price 402 or the alternate paymentplatform 100 price 404 may be displayed, or neither price may bedisplayed. The user 154 may initiate a checkout process by selecting thestart checkout button 408. The user 154 may initiate a help process byselecting the “learn more” 410 hyperlink. It will be appreciated thatthe various hyperlinks, buttons, and other user interface elements thatare described herein and elsewhere may, in alternate embodiments, beprovided as any and all kinds of user interface elements according toany user interface convention, custom, design, style, etcetera. All suchuser interface elements and alternate embodiments are within the scopeof the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 depicts a help screen 502 that may be displayed when the user 154selects the “learn more” 410 hyperlink.

Referring to FIG. 9, a user contact input screen may embody the firststep in a checkout process. Once the user 154 enters a first name, lastname, an email address, and selects a continue checkout 602 userinterface element, the alternate payment platform 100 may presentsecondary offers 160 to the user 154. The order of entry of informationby the user on this screen may be different than described herein, andsome of the information may be optional, such as a user first name. Theuser 154 may be presented with representative offers such as previews ofoffers so that the user 154 can have an idea of what is available aftersignup. In this way, the user 154 may be educated about the alternatepayment platform 100 and therefore be more willing to provide thenecessary contact information to view secondary offers 160.

FIG. 10, an exemplary default screen of alternate offers 160, maydisplay to the user offers that may be associated with a relevancevalue. The relevance value may be associated with an offer optimizationas herein described. The relevance value may be associated with anaspect of the user 154 that may be derived by the alternate paymentplatform 100 from the user 154 contact information provided in thescreen of FIG. 9, or from other known, derivable, or guessableinformation about the user 154 (e.g. the user's ISP, country, prior useof the alternate payment platform 100, and the like). The relevancevalue may be associated with the product 118, the primary vendor 144,the product normal 402 price, and the like. In this screenshot, thetitle “Most Popular Offers” may indicate that the displayed offers areselected on the basis of a relevance value that is related to thepopularity of the offers, which may be determined at least in part onother user offer selections. The screen of FIG. 10 also offers the user154 the option of viewing 702 all secondary offers 160.

FIG. 11 depicts a screenshot of a webpage that contains a plurality ofoffers selected from a list 802 of all the alternate payment platform's100 secondary offers 160. The webpage displays a list 802 of a selectionof secondary offers 160 and a summary of the product 160 or products 160being acquired through the alternate payment platform 100. The list 802of a selection of secondary offers 160 may be too long to be displayedon a single screen and may be continued on additional pages that may beaccessible by selecting a specific page number 804 of the list or thenext 808 page. The secondary offers 160 on the screen of FIG. 11 may befiltered and ordered based at least in part on a user 154 selection. Forexample and without limitation, the list 802 may be orderedalphabetically such as by secondary offeror 148, offer 160, time toreceive the product 810, popularity, and the like. Any aspect ofrelevance may also be used to order the list 802.

To facilitate including user location (regionalization) in secondaryoffer placement for display in a list 802 as shown in FIG. 11, a rankedorder of secondary offers 160 may be identified by the offer selectionand display facility 104 or other aspect of the platform 100. A rankedorder may be defined for each geography, such as each country or eachregion of a country. A primary vendor 144 may define how many secondaryoffers 160 may be presented per geographic region. In an example, avendor “A” may choose to only present 4 offers in India, but may chooseto present 16 offers in the US. Through a primary vendor interface 112,a primary vendor 144 may override secondary offer ranked order for anyor all geographic areas.

Secondary offer screens as shown herein may also be presented in alanguage other than English. The selection of which language to presentmay be based on user preference, user location, user IP provider, andthe like. Languages such as German, French, Spanish, Italian,Portuguese, and others may be available for display on secondary offerpresentation web pages.

Additionally or alternatively, the list 802 may be filtered to display asubset of secondary offers 160. FIG. 12 depicts the screen of FIG. 11when the category filter 902 is opened. The user 154 may select one ofthe categories 904 presented in the filter 902. FIG. 13 depicts thescreen of FIG. 11 when the country filter 1002 is opened. The user 154may select one of the countries 1004 presented in the filter 1002. Whena category filter 902 and/or a country filter 1002 is selected, the list802 of offers may be filtered to display only secondary offers 160 thatmeet the filter criteria.

A user 154 may select one of the secondary offers 160 in the list 802 asshown in FIG. 14. Within the list 802, the selected offer 1102 maydisplay relevant information, graphics, logos, and other contentassociated with the selected offer 1102 to facilitate a user identifyingthe offer 160 and/or the secondary offeror 148.

As shown in FIG. 15, when a user 154 selects a selected offer 1102, anew web browser window displays a confirmation 1202 of the offer 160 anda link 1204 to the secondary offeror 148 website. While the specificexample of FIG. 15 indicates the link 1204 will direct the user's 154web browser to the secondary offeror 148 website, the link 1204 maydirect the user's 154 web browser to a website of the alternate paymentplatform 100, such as a website managed by a facilitator 150. In thisway the alternate payment platform 100 may offer vendors 160, secondaryofferors 148, and users 154 the flexibility and options to interact andadminister secondary offers 160 in a variety of ways.

In embodiments, an alternative form of payment may comprise a user'sparticipation as a buyer and/or seller in an online auction venue. Forexample and without limitation, the seller may utilize a camera system162 to capture an image of an item for sale. Receipt of this image atthe online auction venue may constitute the alternative form of paymentfor an item, wherein the item may or may not encompass a promotionalitem offered by an owner, operator, affiliate, et cetera of the onlineauction venue. Many other applications of a camera system 162 inassociation with an alternative form of payment will be appreciated andall such applications are within the scope of the present disclosure.

Facilitating secondary offerors 148 reaching high quality users 154 maybe a valuable service of the alternate payment platform 100. Secondaryofferors 148 may be looking to acquire high quality users 154 toincrease the likelihood that such a user 154 will become a customer ofthe secondary offeror 148. Determining which users 154 are high qualitymay be challenging in an electronic commerce environment because users154 can make a transaction, including accepting a secondary offer,without providing key quality information such as spending habits,product preferences, and the like. A user's 154 email address andcontact information, while required for most transactions, may notfacilitate quality determination. In an electronic transaction such asan alternative payment transaction, users 154 may also be reluctant toprovide personal details.

The alternate payment platform 100 may offer alternative ways forsecondary offerors 148 to gain access to high quality users 154. Byestablishing a customer acquisition marketplace (also referred to hereinas a “customer marketplace”), the alternative payment platform 100 mayfacilitate a secondary offeror 148 gaining access to high-quality users154 through the platform's dynamic alternate offer 160 associationfeatures. The alternate payment platform 100 may allow secondaryofferors 148 to specify aspects of user 154 quality that can be assessedby the platform 100. User 154 quality may include aspects of primaryoffers 164. Therefore, secondary offerors 148 may request theirsecondary offers 160 be offered to users 154 who are alternativelypurchasing products or services with specified aspects. For example andwithout limitation, a user 154 who is interested in a primary offer 164that involves purchasing a luxury good may be a user 154 that is readyto spend a relatively large amount of money. In this respect, the user154 may be considered a high-quality user. For another example and alsowithout limitation, a user 154 who is interested in a primary offer 164that is generally associated with a particular demographic may beconsidered a high-quality user to a secondary offeror 148 who is apurveyor of goods that are typically purchased by members of thatdemographic. Many definitions of a high-quality user 154 will beappreciated and all such definitions are within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Similarly, many systems and methods of determining whether auser 154 is a high-quality user 154 will be appreciated and all suchsystems and methods are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In embodiments, there may be many secondary offerors 148 interested inacquiring users 154 who are alternatively purchasing one or more of theprimary offers 164 with the specified aspects. Therefore, the alternatepayment platform 100 may enable secondary offerors 148 to requestpromotion, placement, pricing, and the like (collectively, referred toherein simply as “placement”) of their secondary offers 160 to highquality users 154. Such placement may be associated with positioning onealternate offer 160 in relation to another alternate offer 160;providing one alternate offer 160 instead of another alternate offer160; modifying a look, feel, price, or other element of an alternateoffer 160 such as and without limitation to improve the appearanceand/or allure of one alternate offer 160 as compared with another; andso on. Secondary offerors 148 may include a bid in association with analternate offer 160 placement request. The offer bidding module 124 maydetermine which alternate offer 160 is selected based at least in parton the bid. In an example, credit card vendors such as Discover Card,VISA, Master Card, and the like may be willing to pay more to acquire acustomer alternatively purchasing a Zagat.com subscription than acustomer alternatively purchasing WinZip, perhaps because the purchaseof a subscription to Zagat.com, as opposed to a purchase of WinZip,naturally leads to additional purchases (such as for restaurant visits)for which using a credit card may be a preferred method of payment.Additionally or alternatively, such a customer (i.e. a user 154) mayhave income or spending habits that would highly benefit a credit cardvendor. This aspect of the alternate payment platform 100, which acustomer marketplace may encompass, may allow secondary offerors 148 tobid on users 154 who are performing live alternative paymenttransactions rather than soft leads.

To facilitate the customer marketplace, the alternate payment platform100 may allow secondary offerors 148 to specify aspects of primaryoffers 164 that indicate that a user 154 who is selecting the primaryoffer 164 might be a high quality user 154. The secondary offerors 148may specify these aspects through one or more screens, dialogue boxes,webpages, et cetera of the secondary offeror interface 118. Aspects ofthe primary offer 164 may be associated with specific products orservices. In other examples: a home equity lender may consider a user154 alternatively purchasing replacement windows as a high qualitycustomer; a horse transportation vendor may consider a user 154alternatively purchasing a saddle as a high quality customer; a wineclub may consider a user 154 alternatively purchasing a case of wine tobe a high quality customer. Many other such examples will be appreciatedand all such examples are within the scope of the present disclosure.

Aspects of primary offers 164 may also include categories or types ofproducts or services. It will be appreciated from the foregoing examplesthat the products or services may be included in categories such as homeimprovement products or services, horse riding and care products orservices, wine and liquor products and services, and so on. Additionalcategory examples may include gaming products or services, campingproducts or services, travel product or services, boating products orservices, and the like. It will be appreciated that primary offers 164may be categorized or typed in a wide variety of ways that may beusefully specified by secondary offerors 148 to identify potentiallyhigh quality customers. All such categories, types, and combinations ofaspects are contemplated by this specification and are within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Aspects of primary offers 164 related to customer quality, and thesecondary offeror's 148 specification of these aspects may be processedby the offer optimization facility 102 such that the optimized offer 132selection incorporates these additional factors. Offer selection, asperformed by the offer selection and display facility 104, may also beaffected by these factors. A possible outcome of incorporating theseadditional factors into offer optimization and offer selection is apresentation by the secondary transaction facility 120 of secondaryoffers 160 that may have a greater relevance, and possibly greater valueto the user 154 than other secondary offers 160.

In addition to the customer acquisition marketplace being useful andbeneficial to secondary offerors 148, it may also be beneficial toprimary vendors 144. Primary vendors 144 may view the possibleassociations with secondary offerors 148 as adding value by providingco-marketing and/or co-branding opportunities. Primary vendors 144 mayperceive that participating in the alternate payment platform 100 mayincrease their sales through these offer associations and therefore theprimary vendors 144 may employ the alternate payment platform 100 toprovide an alternative payment option for their products and services. Auser 154 that is a high quality customer to a secondary offeror 148 mayalso be a high quality customer to a primary vendor 144. Therefore, if aprimary vendor 144 is aware that a user 154 may be able to buy theprimary vendor's 144 product or service by alternatively purchasing aproduct or service (alternate offer 160) that the user 154 highlydesires, the primary vendor 144 may want to participate in that offerassociation. These offer associations thereby make the alternate paymentplatform 100 a viable, effective, and desirable method of purchase forprimary vendors 144.

Demographic and other user 154 aspects that factor into a consumer'svalue to a vendor may include zip code and may relate to property value.These user 154 aspects may be implicitly determined based on locationdetection of the user through the ISP and/or IP address. The user 154aspects may be explicitly determined based on user-provided data such aszip code. For example, a user 154 may provide a zip code that, whenevaluated against demographic data, is considered a “high approval rate”zip code for financial products such as loans, credit cards, and thelike. A credit card company may be willing to pay a relatively high feeto acquire a customer from a “high approval rate” zip code.

Third-party services that provide on-line access to property value,income assessment, approval rate, and the like may provide valuableinformation for determining customer quality to the alternate paymentplatform 100. For example and without limitation, an area withrelatively high property values may contain higher quality/valuecustomer and therefore an advertiser may be willing to pay a premium toacquire a customer from such an area.

Similarly, an aspect of a user's 154 house/home/apartment may factorinto customer quality/value. A user 154 in an apartment may not be ahigh quality/value customer for secondary offerors 148 that provide homeimprovement products and services. However, such a user 154 may be quitevaluable to insurers that are offering apartment insurance. Therefore,determining whether a user 154 lives in an apartment, home, or othertype of domicile may allow the alternate payment platform 100 toestablish an appropriate quality/value factor for the customer.

Other factors such as a customer's (i.e. a user's 154) use of aparticular type of internet connection, a particular type of webbrowser, a particular operating system, and the like may also be ofvalue in establishing the quality/value of the customer. For example, asecondary offeror 148 offering faster internet access may consider auser with an out-of-date operating system (e.g. Windows 98) as a lowquality potential customer. Conversely, a user with a current modelcomputer, an updated operating system, and a slow internet connectionmay be considered a high quality potential customer. Many other exampleswill be appreciated and all such examples are within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

From the secondary offeror's 148 viewpoint, having timely access tohigh-quality customers who are actively performing electronictransactions may provide much greater value than traditional internetadvertising and marketing techniques such as cost-per-click,keyword-based marketplaces.

The alternate payment platform 100 may allow a user 154 to establish atransaction account with the platform 100. Associated with atransaction, a user 154 may provide relevant information such as ausername, password, or other information only known to the user 154 thatthe platform 100 may use to identify the user 154. A transaction accountmay be associated with the relevant information and established for theuser 154. The user transaction account may be credited with transactioncredits each time a user 154 completes an alternate payment transactionwith the alternate payment platform 100. The transaction credits may beredeemable by the user 154 in association with an alternate paymentplatform 100 transaction. The transaction credits may be provided to theuser 154 as a reward for an alternate payment transaction and mayprovide an incentive for the user 154 to use the alternate paymentplatform 100 again to redeem the transaction credits accumulated in histransaction account.

The transaction credits may be based on an aspect of the transaction oraspects of the transaction account. The amount of transaction creditsmay be based on an aspect of a primary offer 164 and/or an alternateoffer 160 transacted through the alternate payment platform 100. Aspectsof the offers may include the normal cost of the primary offer 164, thecost to the user 154 of the alternate offer 160, the primary offer 164category or type, the primary vendor 144, the secondary offeror 148, andthe like. Aspects of the transaction account may include a total numberof transactions, a number of transactions within a predeterminedtimeframe, a frequency of transactions, a calculation of the totalamount of primary offer 164 normal costs, and the like. Some examples ofcrediting user credits include: one transaction credit for each primarytransaction, one transaction credit for each one dollar of primary offer164 normal cost, one offer credit for a first transaction with a primaryvendor 144, and the like.

Transaction credit redemption may be controlled based on aspects of thetransaction account, the primary offer 164, or the alternate offer 160.Redemption may be permitted only after a minimum number of transactioncredits have been accumulated. Redemption may also be permitted only oncertain primary offers 164. While example controls and restrictions aredescribed herein, it will be appreciated that many other types ofcontrols, restrictions, limits, minimum balances, and the like may beapplied to offer credit redemption. However, redemption may be permittedwithout these or other limitations. In any case, all such controls,restrictions, limits, minimum balances, and the like are within thescope of the present disclosure.

Transaction credits may be redeemed toward the alternative purchase of aprimary offer 164. Such redemption may facilitate customer retention andsatisfaction for the alternate payment platform 100. A user 154 mayaccumulate transaction credits in his transaction account and may redeemthe accumulated transaction credits when making an alternative purchase.In an example, a user 154 may have accumulated ten transaction creditsin his transaction account. The user 154 may select to purchase asubscription to Men's Health magazine using the alternate paymentplatform 100. If each transaction credit is worth one primary-offernormal-cost dollar and the subscription costs ten primary-offernormal-cost dollars, then the user 154 may purchase the magazinesubscription using the ten accumulated offer credits. If the magazinesubscription costs more than ten dollars, the user 154 may need to paythe difference, or select an alternative payment alternate offer 160 tocover the difference. If the magazine subscription costs less than tendollars, the user 154 might receive the magazine subscription and keepthe difference between the magazine subscription cost and thetransaction account transaction credits balance in his transactionaccount.

It will be appreciated that transaction credits and primary offer 164normal cost may have different value relationships than the examplesherein. For example, a transaction credit may equate to one-half of aprimary-offer, normal-cost dollar. Transaction credits may alternativelynot have a regular relationship to primary-offer, normal-cost dollars,such that a primary offer may be assigned a fixed number of transactioncredits independently of the primary offer normal cost. Any and allrelationships between primary offers 164, primary offer 164 normalcosts, and transaction credits are within the scope of this disclosure.

Transaction credits used to alternatively purchase a primary offer 164may impact a primary vendor's 144 financial accounting with thealternate payment platform 100. For example and without limitation,transaction credits may be used to offset platform 100 participationfees charged to primary vendors 144. A financial agreement between aprimary vendor 144 and the alternate payment platform 100 may includethe primary vendor 144 accepting a predetermined number of transactioncredits in lieu of payment based on a quantity of primary offers 164transacted through the alternate payment platform 100. For example andwithout limitation, a primary vendor 144 may accept transaction creditsin lieu of payment for two primary offers 164 for every one hundred paidprimary offers. Use of transaction credits for alternatively purchasinga primary offer 164 may facilitate customer retention for the primaryvendor 144 as well as the platform 100. Therefore, such an arrangementmay be mutually beneficial to the primary vendor 144 and the platform100.

Additionally, the amount paid by the alternate payment platform 100 tothe primary vendor 144 for an alternative purchase of a primary offer164 may be different than the primary offer 164 normal cost. Therefore,the value of the offer credits as perceived by the user 154 may bedifferent than the value perceived by the primary vendor 144 or thealternate payment platform 100. This difference may also vary from userto user, region to region, country to country, and so on. For example, auser 154 in the United States may perceive a value relationship betweentransaction credits and primary offers that is different than what auser 154 in India perceives.

Transaction credits may alternatively be redeemed for secondary offers160. Because secondary offers 160 may require the user 154 to purchase aproduct or service, transaction credits may be redeemed to offset someor all of this cost. A secondary offeror 148 may accept transactioncredits as payment toward an alternate offer 160 and thereby reduce theamount charged to the user 154 to purchase the product or service of thealternate offer 160. The secondary offeror 148 may accept thetransaction credits without impacting an amount it pays the alternatepayment platform 100 to facilitate the secondary transaction. In thisexample, the alternate payment platform 100 debits the secondary offeror148 the amount it pays, independently from the use of transactioncredits.

An alternative accounting of transaction credits used to transact analternate offer 160 may include the alternate payment platform 100reducing the amount debited from the secondary offeror 148 based on thenumber of transaction credits applied. A potential benefit to thealternate payment platform 100 for this reduction in debit amount may bean increase in the number of alternate offer 160 transactions with asecondary offeror 148 such that next-tier pricing 204 for secondaryoffers 160 may be reached sooner than if the reduction in debit were notemployed.

Any combination of the above transaction credit accounting techniques,and any other accounting technique related to transaction credits beingapplied to secondary offers 160, whether described herein, includedherein by reference, or appreciated, are within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Users 154 who have established transaction accounts with the platform100 may have a higher value to a secondary offeror 160 than users 154who do not have an account because information associated with the useraccount may facilitate targeting offers to the user 154.

The alternate payment platform 100 may also facilitate micro-payments.Micro-payments may encompass low-value electronic transactions that donot provide much residual value to a vendor after transaction fees, suchas and without limitation credit card fees of 2% plus a fixedtransaction fee, are deducted from an amount charged to the customer. Acommon example of a micro-payment is an on-line purchase of a song file.Song files cost as little as $0.99, yet credit card fees and operatingcosts for the transaction may substantially eliminate any profit thatmight otherwise be derived from the $0.99.

The alternate payment platform 100 may facilitate micro-payments byproviding the vendor with 100% of the micro-payment charged to thecustomer, without imposing transaction fees. The alternate paymentplatform 100, through the debits charged to a secondary offeror 148 forfacilitating an alternate offer 160 associated with a micro-paymentalternative purchase, may receive cash compensation in excess of themicro-payment. This allows the alternate payment platform 100 to pay aprimary vendor 144 the full micro-payment and still make a profit. Inthis way, the alternate payment platform 100 provides a significantbenefit to the user 154 (e.g. who receives a “free” primary offer 164that is provided in association with the user's 154 acceptance of analternate offer 160), the secondary offeror 148 (e.g. that receives theuser's 154 acceptance of the alternate offer 160), and the primaryvendor 144 (e.g. that receives the full micro-payment for the primaryoffer 164). It will be appreciated that, due to the elimination of thetransaction fee that might normally be associated with themicro-payment, the primary vendor may make a greater profit than in astandard transaction.

By combining transaction credits accumulated in a user's transactionaccount with micro-payment alternative purchases, the alternate paymentplatform 100 may further provide benefits to users 154 and primaryvendors 144. For example and without limitation, a user 154 may redeemaccumulated transaction credits for free song files; a primary vendormay benefit from reduced fees by accepting transaction credits whilereceiving 100% of micro-payments; and so on.

A method of payment may be substituted to facilitate completion of atransaction such as a primary offer 164 transaction or an alternateoffer 160 transaction. The method of payment may be associated with theprimary offer 164, primary vendor 144, secondary offeror 148, platform100, user environment, payment facilitator 178 involvement, offerconsolidator 180 involvement, combinations of above, and the like. Themethod of payment may be associated with the offer, such as the primary164 or alternate offer 160, based at least in part on the type of offer,the fulfillment method, the environment of the offer (e.g. on-lineversus point of sale), and the like. In an example, a primary offer 164that is presented and/or fulfilled electronically, such as a download ofsoftware, may require electronic payment of any amount due from the user154. An offer that is made and transacted at a point of sale may allowcash, checks, and other physical forms of payment. Similarly, the methodof payment may be associated with the vendor, such as the primary vendor144 or secondary offeror 148. A vendor may require a prepayment toestablish a credit balance that may be used for future transactions. Inan example, a ring tone vendor may require a prepayment of a minimumamount to complete a transaction. However, the user 154 may elect to usea portion of the prepayment to purchase a ring tone as part of thetransaction and reserve the remainder of the prepayment in a creditaccount with the vendor for future purchases of ring tones, and thelike.

The method of payment may be based at least in part on the userenvironment which may include user preferences, user computing device,user network type, user credit worthiness, user purchase history, useraccount status with the vendor or the platform 100, and the like. In anexample, a user 154 with good credit may be offered to defer paymentuntil a later time while fulfilling the offer requirements at the timeof the transaction. In this way the vendor provides credit to the user154, perhaps as a motivator for the user 154 to accept the offer. Inanother example, a user 154 may accept an offer to pre-pay for ringtones through a website of a vendor; however the user's 154 cellularphone account may be charged the pre-payment amount and futuretransactions against the prepaid balance may be made through the websiteor the user's 154 cellular phone. In another example, a mobile phoneuser may accept to purchase an alternate offer 160 of an upgrade to amobile service plan as alternate payment for an upgraded phone. The usermay complete the transaction by talking with a customer service or salesoffice of the mobile service provider and the payment for the serviceupgrade may be charged to the user's credit card, mobile phone account,deducted from a credit balance of a user account with the mobile serviceprovider, and the like.

The method of payment may be associated with a payment facilitator 178or offer consolidator 180. The method of payment may be based, at leastin part on aspects of the payment facilitator 178 or offer consolidator180. A payment facilitator 178 may support other types of payment suchas contingent payment, deferred payment, third party payment,co-payment, and the like. In an example, a payment facilitator 178 mayfacilitate receiving payment from a user that is contingent on anotherevent, such as a user 154 selling an item on an auction website (e.g.E-Bay or U-bid). The payment facilitator 178 may receive direct paymentfrom the purchaser of the user 154 auctioned item and, based on thepayment meeting contingency criteria, facilitate payment to the vendor,such as through the platform 100, to complete the offer. The paymentfacilitator 178 may deduct certain fees for facilitating the transactionfrom the amount received through the auction. In addition to selling anitem on an auction website, any other sort of contingency may be used,such as a tax refund, an insurance payment, an annuity, a socialsecurity payment, a bank deposit, a security transaction, and the like.

The method of payment for an alternate offer 160 may differ from themethod of payment for a primary offer 164. The method of payment may beassociated with and based at least in part on aspects of the secondaryand primary offers. An alternate offer 160 may include a discountedprice for the primary offer 164, resulting in the user 154 making areduced payment for the primary offer 164. The user 154 may also make apayment for the alternate offer 160. The user 154 method of payment forthe primary offer 164 may, in such a situation, be different than theuser 154 method of payment for the alternate offer 160. There may alsobe differences between the methods of payment accepted for the primaryoffer 164 and those accepted for the alternate offer 160. In example andwithout limitation, certain payment types may be possible for a primaryoffer 164, such as cash, a personal check, a credit card payment, adebit card payment, or a gift card payment, but other methods such as aPayPal transaction, bank transfer, and the like may not be available asoptions for an alternate offer 160 payment. In this example, payment foran alternate offer 160 may be possible by using any of theaforementioned payment types, including those methods not available forprimary offer 164 payment. In this way, a user 154 may specify adifferent source of payment for the alternate offer 160 than may havebeen possible for the primary offer 164. In another example, a user 154may indicate a different source of payment for the alternate offer 160even if identical payment types are available for both primary andalternate offers 160. The alternate offer 160 may include the user 154receiving a credit balance, such as a gift card, that is useable for theprimary offer 164. In an example, a user 154 may receive a reduced pricefor the primary offer 164 by completing the alternate offer 160 and mayfurther receive a gift card associated with the alternate offer 160 thatmay be used to further reduce or completely pay the reduced purchaseprice for the primary offer 164. In this way a user 154 may use a creditcard to purchase the alternate offer 160, and may use the gift card topurchase the primary offer 164. The gift card may be provided by thesecondary offeror 148, an offer consolidator 180, the platform 100, andthe like. The gift card may be provided simply for the user 154completing the alternate offer transaction, or it may be provided whenthe user 154 provides contact information for a friend to the secondaryofferor 148, offer consolidator 180, and the like. There are many otherconditions that may be associated with a user 154 receiving a gift cardor other credit, and all are within the scope of this disclosure.

In addition to the method of payment being substituted, the currencyexchange transactions associated with a transaction may occur away fromthe transaction. The currency used for payment of the alternate offer160 may differ from the currency used to express pricing of thealternate offer 160. Exchange of the currency may occur as part of afinancial transaction between the payment provider (e.g. a credit cardor bank) and the vendor, platform 100, payment facilitator 187, or thelike. However, the transaction may complete independently of thecurrency exchange. In an example, a user 154 may purchase an offerexpressed in US dollars. At a later time, or through anothertransaction, the vendor, platform 100, payment facilitator 178, and thelike may cause an exchange of the transaction currency for a currencyassociated with the vendor, platform 100, payment facilitator 178, andthe like. For a given alternate offer 160 expressed in a particularcountry's currency, a user 154 may indicate that payment may be madeusing a different currency, the same currency, or a combination ofcurrencies. In an example, and without limitation, a user 154 located inthe United States may select an alternate offer 160 from a Britishentity where the pricing is indicated in British pounds. In thisexample, payment for the alternate offer 160 may be made using theUnited States dollar. In a later or separate transaction, the US dollarsassociated with the alternate offer 160 transaction 170 may be exchangedfor British pounds by the vendor, payment facilitator 178, offerconsolidator 180, and the like.

Vendors may participate in a referral system associated with theplatform 100. A vendor may be a referrer or a referee in a referralrelationship with another vendor. A referee may have been referred tothe platform 100 by a vendor of the platform 100. A referrer may havereferred a vendor to the platform 100. A vendor may receive compensationfor referring another vendor to the alternate payment platform 100. Inan example and without limitation, a first vendor may refer a secondvendor to the alternate payment platform 100. The second vendor revenuethat is associated with the platform 100 may be a basis for compensatingthe first vendor. The compensation to the first vendor may be based on apercent of the second vendor revenue. Alternatively, referralcompensation may be graduated. The graduation may be based on a numberof transactions, an amount of revenue, a number of referrals, and thelike. In an example and without limitation, a primary vendor 144 mayreceive a 5% referral commission for the first 1000 transactions made bythe second vendor and then receives only a 1% referral commission forsubsequent transactions. In another example, a primary vendor 144 mayreceive a 1% referral commission for the first 1000 transactions made bythe second vendor and then receive a 5% referral commission for allsubsequent transactions. In another example, a referral commission maybe a flat fee provided to the first vendor. The fee may be based on thesecond vendor completing a minimum number of offer transactions throughthe platform 100. Alternatively, the flat fee may be paid whether or notany revenue is generated by the second vendor. In any event, the totalsum paid as a referral commission, the total time that a referralcommission may be accumulated, or any variation or combination of totalsum and total time may be limited to a pre-set maximum. Many differenttypes of referral commission structures may be associated with thealternate payment platform 100, such as applying a commission value toan outstanding balance or establish a credit balance to pay the referrervendor fees associated with the platform 100.

Referral commissions may be tracked so that they may be displayed andanalyzed through a vendor interface of the alternate payment platform100. The alternate payment platform 100 may record each referralagreement, each transaction of a referrer and/or a referee, and the likenecessary to support referral commission tracking. The vendor interfacemay allow vendors to monitor and manage referral commissions. In anexample and without limitation, referees may be able to track referralcommissions paid to their referrer, and referrers may track, display,and manage referral commissions on behalf of their referees. Referralcommission reports may be generated by the vendor interface. The vendorinterface may also allow vendors to indicate a referral, update thestatus of a referral, request that a referral commission be paid, andthe like.

Subsidizing offers may facilitate optimizing aspects of the alternatepayment platform 100, such as sales. Subsidizing offers facilitatesproviding offers that result in a loss under limited conditions. Offersubsidizing may involve using revenue from one offer to subsidize anegative cash flow offer. Subsidizing may facilitate increasingalternate offer 160 acceptances to more quickly reach a secondaryofferor 148 higher paying price tier 204. In an example and withoutlimitation, Zagat may indicate that they would accept payment of $20 forevery primary offer 164 and that they prefer eBay to be presented as analternate offer 160. However, eBay may only be willing to pay $16 to theplatform 100 when a user 154 accepts an alternate offer 160. In order tocover the gap of a $20 Zagat payout and a $16 eBay payment, a $4 portionof revenue from a different alternate offer 160 transaction 170 may beallocated to fund the eBay alternate offer 160. However, the $16 paymentby eBay may increase when the number of accepted alternate offer 160exceeds a price tier 204 threshold. If the eBay payment increases to $20once the alternate offer 160 quantity price tier 204 is reached, theeBay alternate offer 160 may no longer be subsidized. The platform 100may automatically and dynamically configure subsidy relationships basedat least on primary vendor 144 pricing and secondary offeror 148 pricingtiers 204. Additionally, vendor rules and constraints that may limit thealternate offer 160 available based on pricing requirements, such asthose herein described, may be overcome by subsidizing offers in orderto introduce alternate offer 160 that may have a revenue-maximizingoutcome.

An alternate offer 160 may be associated with multiple events, such assub-offers. An accepted alternate offer 160 that may be associated witha secondary offeror 148 and a user 154 known to the alternate paymentplatform 100 may have independent pay events. Events associated with theuser 154 and the secondary offeror 148, such as purchases, transactions,auction sales, user referrals, and the like may occur after the user 154accepts the alternate offer 160. These associated events may be trackedby the secondary offeror 148 and/or the platform 100 so that theplatform 100 may debit the secondary offeror 148 appropriately. In anexample and without limitation, a user 154 may select an eBay alternateoffer 160. The user 154 may activate an eBay account, make a bid, make awinning bid, execute a ‘Buy It Now’ transaction, and the like which maybe tracked by the secondary offeror 148 and/or the platform 100 so thatthe platform 100 can recognize revenue from the secondary offeror 148.In another example, an alternate offer 160 transaction may be linkedwith a user account in the alternate payment platform 100 so that arecord of the secondary transaction (e.g. user, secondary offeror,offer, and the like) may be maintained for later reference. When thereis new activity associated with a previous transaction, such as atransaction between the user 154 and the secondary offeror 148 (e.g. asubscription renewal, a repeat purchase of the same offer, a sub-offer,and the like), additional revenue may be generated and associated withthe user account.

Revenue generated from multiple events and/or sub-offers may beallocated to the alternate payment platform 100, a platform 100facilitator 150, a primary vendor 144, a combination of platform 100participants, and the like. Revenue may be generated on a per eventbasis or on a volume of events basis. In the scenario described abovefor eBay, each individual event may be valued and accumulated on a perevent basis; a ‘Buy It Now’ transaction may generate $0.03 while awinning bid may be valued at $0.05. Events may be tracked and paymentmay be made when a minimum event volume threshold is reached.Alternatively, each event or sub-offer may count toward an eventthreshold so that reaching the threshold (perhaps within a specifiedtime frame) results in the secondary offeror 148 paying the platform100. The amount paid may be a variable amount based on, for example, howquickly the threshold was achieved. Revenue thusly generated may betracked and managed through a vendor interface to the platform 100.

A participant of the alternate payment platform 100, such as a user 154,a primary vendor 144, a secondary offeror 148, a facilitator 150, andthe like may ascertain the status of fulfillment of alternate offer 160requirements for obtaining a primary offer 164. The platform 100 maytrack user activity associated with fulfillment of an alternate offer160 that the user 154 selected. The platform 100 may present the useralternate offer 160 related activity on a user interface to the platform100, a webpage, in an SMS, a pager, an IVR, an email, and the like. Inan example and without limitation, if the alternate offer 160 requiresthat two winning bids be placed on eBay, the platform 100 may trackaccount activation, bid placement, outbid activity, losing bids, and thenumber of winning bids. Once the user 154 has accumulated two winningbids, the platform 100 may provide confirmation that the alternate offer160 requirements have been met and may provide access to the primaryoffer 164 such as through activation codes, passwords, serial numbersand the like associated with the primary transaction facility 114 asherein described.

A participant or user 154 of the alternate payment platform 100 maymanage fulfillment of alternate offer 160 requirements through theplatform 100. The user 154 may view, such as through a user interface ofthe platform 100, the alternate offer 160 requirements in such a waythat the user 154 may access the resources, websites, and the like forfulfilling the requirements through the platform 100. In an example, auser 154 may be required to perform a purchase (by winning a bid orusing ‘Buy it Now’) and make the payment for the purchase throughPayPal. The platform 100 may provide access to eBay and PayPal so thatthe user 154 can complete the requirements without accessing eBay orPayPal outside of the platform 100. In this way, a user 154 known to theplatform 100 may perform any or all actions and meet any or allrequirements of a primary 164 and alternate offer 160 through theplatform 100.

Transaction auditing may be associated with the alternate paymentplatform 100. The platform 100 may include accounting associated withaspects of the platform 100 such as transactions. In addition toproviding financial accounting services, platform 100 accounting mayprovide the transaction auditing for the platform 100. Platform 100accounting may use transaction auditing to verify financial activityassociated with transactions such as comparing actual amounts received(e.g. checks, cash, electronic transfers, deposits, and the like) totransaction amounts. Transaction auditing may access transactioninformation including, individual transaction data, aggregatedtransaction data, multi-pay events, sub-offers, downstream activitiesstemming from an alternate offer 160, pricing volume thresholdcrossings, charge backs, cancelled transactions, vendor fees, currencyconversion, and the like. The value associated with the transactioninformation may be used by transaction auditing to calculate and compareadvertiser fees, referral commissions, and the like with actual amounts,such as payments from vendors. If the comparison determines that avendor has overpaid, a credit may be issued to the vendor and a statusalert may be generated notifying platform 100 accounting of theoverpayment. If the comparison determines that the vendor has paid thecorrect amount, a status alert may be generated notifying platform 100accounting that the vendor has no payment currently due. If thecomparison determines that the vendor has paid too little, a statusalert may be generated notifying platform 100 accounting of theunderpayment. Additionally, an alert may be automatically delivered tothe vendor for notification of such underpayment. Delivery of the alertmay be by email, SMS, IVR, postal mail, and the like.

The alternate payment platform 100 may have access controls. The accesscontrol may include individualized log-ins. An individualized login,such as a user credential associated with the platform 100, may includecertain capabilities associated with access and change control that maydetermine what aspects of the user 154 can access and what aspects ofthe platform 100 the user can change. In an example and withoutlimitation, a vendor may have a primary contact and a number ofsecondary contacts associated with the platform 100. Contact credentialsfor access and change control may differ for primary contacts andsecondary contacts, allowing certain tasks and capabilities to beavailable to primary contacts but not to secondary contacts, and viceversa. In an example and without limitation, a primary contact may beable to change a secondary contact's access level, whereas a secondarycontact may not be able to change their level of access.

The access control may include audit logging. Audit logging may includerecording changes, such as inserts, updates, deletions, logon errors,and the like. Recording may include writing to a database, such as anaudit database, so that entries may be managed, reported, aggregated,reviewed, and the like. Writing to the audit log may be performedautomatically. Audit logging may be enabled or disabled for individualusers, vendors, transactions, offers, actions, action types, accesscriteria, and the like. The audit log may be searched, sorted, viewed,and the like. Details of the audit log may be viewed chronologically, byevent type, and the like.

The access control may include access restrictions. Access to thealternate payment platform 100 may be based on the identity of a user154, identity of a group, the action the user 154 may be performing,rules, permissions, and the like. In an example and without limitation,a rule may permit only the primary contact from a vendor to access aprofile change webpage. In another example, a matrix of groups andrules/permissions, such as access control rules for the varioustiers/pages of the alternate payment platform 100 may be described.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include vendor cross pollinating.The platform 100 may identify one or more offers to present to the userbased at least in part on aspects of the user interaction with theplatform 100. Aspects of user 154 interaction may include primary offers164, alternate offer 160, demographic data, user preferences, user 154queries, and the like. The platform 100 may associate one or moreprimary offers 164 associated with the user with one or more alternateoffer 160 associated with the primary offer 164 that may or may not havebeen offered and/or accepted by the user to identify the one or moreoffers to present to the user. The one or more offers may be presentedafter a user has accepted an alternate offer 160 or otherwise completedone or more transactions through the platform 100. In this way a userknown to the platform 100, such as a user introduced to the platform 100indirectly through a primary offer 164 alternate payment selection, maybe offered the one or more offers by the platform 100 directly.

In an example and without limitation, a user 154 who may have accessed aprimary offer 164 and selected an alternate offer 160 may be presentedwith an additional offer after the completion of the alternate offer 160transaction. In an example, a user 154 has obtained a primary offer 164of a McAfee Anti-Virus product by participating in a BMG Music Clubalternate offer 160. The platform 100 may directly present the user 154an offer for a Wall Street Journal subscription. The choice of theplatform 100 directly presented offer may be based on a userdemographic, such as one indicating the user 154 lives in a zip codethat has a good acceptance rate for Wall Street Journal subscriptionoffers. In this way, the platform 100 may direct users (customers)toward vendors, such as primary vendors 144. The platform 100 may chargea fee associated with directing users 154 toward vendors based on thedirected user 154 completing one or more transactions with the vendor.

The platform 100 may facilitate vendor cross-pollination further byassociating alternate offer 160 with platform 100 primary offers 164. Inan example, a user 154 may be directed to an e-commerce site to purchasea digital music player or other accessory based at least in part on theuser 154 having previously accepted a digital music alternate offer 160through the platform 100. The user 154 may also be presented analternate offer 160 from a shoe vendor as alternative payment for thedigital music player (e.g. based on a user preference or historyindicating the user may have interest in an offer from the shoe vendor).In this way the platform 100 facilitates cross-pollination of e-commercevendor, the digital music player vendor, and the shoe vendor.

Alternate offers 160 may take place before a primary offer 164sale/checkout or after the sale/checkout. Additionally the user 154 maybe presented with multiple offers from the platform 100. The platform100 may present the multiple offers at one time, such as through awebpage showing the offers, or may be presented at more than one time.Directly presented offers may be presented in succession on individualwebpages or may be presented together on a single webpage. Offers mayinclude low value items, such as a digital music song download, and thelike.

The alternate payment platform 100 may include release testing fortesting changes, additions, conversion, updates, and new releases ofaspects of the platform 100 to ensure the platform 100 achieves highquality performance and reliability. Release testing may be automated tosupport and facilitate platform 100 complexity. The platform 100 releasemay be deployed to a subset of users, a subset of vendors, and the like.The deployment may be automatic or manual and may include a sufficientnumbers of users and vendors to create a statistically significantsample size. The release may be deployed for only certain tasks. Newreleases of an alternate payment platform 100 may be tested forperformance, usability, bugs, advance warning of support needs, and thelike. These measurements may be made automatically. In an example andwithout limitation, usability may be inferred from tracking user timesto complete tasks, by analyzing results from subjective assessments, bytracking the number of completed versus abandoned transactions inrelation to the number of bugs, and the like.

The platform 100 may be associated with vendor administration. Vendoradministration may involve tracking active placements. Active placementsmay include URLs, emails, and other touchpoints, such as Uninstall,Nagscreen, UnSubscribe, Cancel, Shopping Cart Abandon, and the like,involving the alternate payment platform 100. Active placement trackingmay involve account managers, vendors, and the like identifying where agiven product page is being promoted. Active placement tracking mayfacilitate making sure “best practices” are implemented, identifyingmisrepresentations, demonstration of live examples for prospectivevendors, identifying sources of traffic, and the like. In an example,active placement tracking may capture touch point type along withassociated information, duration comments, and the like. A vendorinterface may facilitate active placement tracking by presentinginformation and analysis that may identify revenue associated with a‘constant’ traffic source and a transient source.

The alternate payment platform 100 may comprise a vendor interface. Thevendor interface may facilitate vendor registration, configuration ofthe vendor account, management of a vendor account, monitoring of avendor account, and the like. The vendor interface may facilitatemonitoring of primary offers, referrals, referral commissions, activeplacements, statistics, and the like. Analytics and reports may begenerated through a vendor interface.

The alternate payment platform 100 may comprise a primary vendorinterface 112. The primary vendor interface 112 may allow primaryvendors 144 to perform analytics for each product available through thealternate payment platform 100 and monitor performance of variouscustomer communications. Analytics may be available as a daily feedthrough a dashboard of the primary vendor interface 112. Analytics mayinclude traffic sources, actions taken on a product webpage, productssold, repeat customers, the association of revenue generated withtraffic source, the association of revenue generated with repeatcustomers, payment option performance, touch point analytics, and thelike. Analytics may assist primary vendors 144 in decision making andadjusting communication strategy. Analytics may assist a primary vendor144 in determining optimal pricing of a product. In an example andwithout limitation, analytics may demonstrate payment optionperformance, such as the rate of transaction completion for credit-cardtransactions versus alternate payment platform 100 transactions.Analytics may assist a primary vendor 144 in determining how to convertwebpage visitors into customers by analyzing past transactions.Analytics may assist a primary vendor 144 in determining when tointroduce the alternate payment platform 100 during a transactionAnalytics may assist in determining user 154 related fraud, such as whena user completes multiple alternate offers 160 without regard to theterms and conditions of the alternate offer 160. In an example andwithout limitation, analytics may assist in deciding if an alternatepayment platform 100 may be introduced prior to a payment point during atransaction, with the payment point, after the payment point, at anytime in the transaction, and the like by providing data regarding ratesof transaction completion for each touch point. Wherever there may be apayment option, there may be a touch point.

Touch points may include email, shopping path activities, website,intra-product touch points, physical world touch points, and mobiletouch points. Email touch point tracking may include tracking a user's154 activity that is associated with an email, as described elsewhereherein. Shopping path activity touch point tracking may include trackingshopping cart abandonment, browser window closures, purchase of a lowerversion or upgradeable product, emails, and the like. Website touchpoint tracking may include tracking a user's 154 activity associatedwith a website, such as navigation to a download page, viewing ofmarketing materials, interaction with a beta/trial portion of a website,viewing of Op/Ed pieces, navigation to a fee-accessible portion of awebsite, participation in a product discussion forum, geographicallocation and demographics of a user 154, any graduated level that isoutside the shopping experience, such as LinkedIn, and the like. In anexample and without limitation, if a user 154 may participate in aproduct forum, the system may substitute marketing text with an offer totry the product for free. Intra-product touch point tracking may includetracking a user's 154 activity associated with an intra-product touchpoint, including web pages activated, emails sent, and/or additionaloffers made after uninstalling, canceling, and/or unsubscribing aproduct; interaction with a “nag screen”; interaction with a frauddetection system, and the like. In an example and without limitation, auser 154 may enter a piece of pirated or hacked code or serial number.If this code may be detected by the fraud detection system, the user 154may be allowed to select an alternate offer 160 on the alternate paymentplatform 100 in order to obtain a valid code or serial number. Physicalworld touch point tracking may include tracking a user's 154 activityassociated with a physical world touch point, including newspaper andperiodical inserts, postal mail, in-store touch points, product inserts,and the like. Activity associated with physical world touch points mayoccur either on the alternate payment platform 100 or in the physicalworld, such as by mailing back a product insert to participate in anoffer in return for a full rebate on the product. Mobile user touchpoint tracking may include tracking a user's 154 activity associatedwith a mobile touch point, including services selected, featuresselected, and the like.

The primary vendor interface 112 may allow primary vendors 144 to extendsecondary offeror 148 timeout, as described elsewhere herein withrespect to offer optimization 102. The primary vendor interface 112 mayallow primary vendors 144 to add a landing page option for the check-outprocess. In an example and without limitation, a vendor may want tospecify additional context on the alternate payment platform 100 paymentmodule using a landing page which may be provided with defaultmessaging, custom messaging, and the like. The landing page may becustomized based on a traffic source, a season, a demographic, and thelike.

The alternate payment platform 100 may comprise pricing alternatives. Inan example and without limitation, a vendor may indicate a minimumacceptable price for one region of the world but indicate a differentminimum acceptable price for another region. In another example, pricingmay be based on a demographic. In an example and without limitation, avendor may indicate a lower minimum acceptable price for seniors and ahigher one for non-seniors. In another example, pricing may be based ona psychographic. In an example and without limitation, a vendor mayindicate a lower price for members of Amnesty International. Thealternate payment platform 100 payment module 108 may aggregate pricingparameters for each region, demographic, and psychographic where avendor may indicate a pricing alternative in a pricing table. Thepricing table may allow the vendor to indicate the pricing alternativeas a new entry, as a percentage of a prior minimum acceptable price, andthe like. Pricing alternatives may be indicated in any currency in use.The pricing table may be accessed by the payment module when a userindicates a certain regional location, demographic, psychographic, andthe like.

A vendor may receive additional information related to a user 154 aftera transaction is complete. In an example and without limitation, a user154 may accept a User ID from a vendor. Using this User ID, the vendormay track and report completed offers associated with the User ID. Inanother example, a vendor may have access to an Order ID or Product IDassociated with an alternate offer 160. The vendor may be able to trackthe fulfillment status of an alternate offer 160 using the Order ID orProduct ID. Vendors may be able to indicate transaction parameters towhich they want access. Vendors may make transaction parameter choicesby configuring a transaction parameter list. Upon initiation of a newtransaction, the transaction parameter list may be accessed. Allrelevant parameters may be delivered to the vendor once they becomeavailable in the course of the transaction. The transaction parametersmay be available on a webpage, in a report, by email, and the like.

The platform 100 may facilitate offer management by allowing primaryvendors 144 to select alternate offer 160 to make available as alternatepayment options for their primary offers 164 (a k a pulling offers). Theplatform 100 may alternatively, or additionally, facilitate offermanagement by pushing a selected offer or offers to a primary vendor144. The selection may be based on aspects of the primary offer 164,primary vendor 144, secondary offeror 148, alternate offer 160, userlocation or geography, and the like. The primary vendor 144 may reviewselected offers that are pushed so that only offers that meet theprimary vendor 144 offer selection criteria may be presented to usersseeking to use the alternative payment platform 100 to acquire a primaryoffer 144.

Pushing offer(s) may facilitate a reduction in the overhead and humaninteraction associated with pulling offers by utilizing the offerselection facilities 104 and other offer coordination aspects of theplatform 100 to push highly relevant offers to the primary vendor 144 toapprove use of the alternate offer 160 as alternate payment for theprimary offer. Preferences and other alternate offer 160 relatedconstraints identified by the primary vendor 144 to the platform 100 maybe included in the selection of offers to push to the primary vendors144. A primary vendor 144 may identify preferences that indicate certaintypes of offers, or offers with certain content may not be presented toa user as an alternate payment offer for the primary offer 164. Theprimary vendor 144 may identify these and other preferences through theprimary vendor user interface 112. The primary vendor 144 may selectoptions such as “accept all pushed offers,” “accept all qualified pushedoffers,” “accept all pushed offers except those listed below,” “onlyaccept pushed offers listed below,” “accept no offers automatically,”and the like. A primary vendor 144 may choose to review each pushedoffer or offers before making a decision about allowing the offers to bepresented to users 154.

Vendors may establish relationships with affiliates to further promotesale of the vendor's product or service. Affiliates may be associatedwith primary vendors 144, secondary offerors 160, and may also beassociated with the platform 100. An affiliate associated with theplatform 100 may be similar to an alternate offer 160 consolidator 180in that the affiliate provides a real-time connection between a user 154and a primary 164 or alternate offer 160 through the platform 100.Vendors may compensate an affiliate for a completed transaction, such asa purchase of a primary offer 164. Therefore, vendors may want tocompensate an affiliate for a user 154 who uses the alternate paymentplatform 100 to complete a primary offer 164. To ensure an affiliatethat is involved in a platform 100 related transaction receives propercredit for a transaction for which they provided the user 154, theplatform 100 may support receiving, storing, tracking, and reporting theaffiliate identification associated with transactions. Maintaining arecord of the relationship of an affiliate with a platform 100transaction may facilitate proper accounting of post-transaction actionssuch as charge backs, credit and debit adjustments, and the like.

To promote quality use of the platform 100, a best practices forum maybe associated with the platform 100. Participants to the platform 100may have access to the best practices forum through one or moreinterfaces of the platform 100, through email contact, other messagingcontact, physical mail, and the like. A best practices forum may benefitparticipants of the platform 100, such as primary vendors 144, secondaryofferors 148, offer consolidators 180, payment facilitators 178, users154, facilitators 150, and the like. A best practice forum may includematerial, such as on-line material, that may include getting startedguides, primers, examples of touch points, examples of emails with highconversion rates, and the like. A best practice forum may include anyinformation that may facilitate a vendor maximizing use of the platform100 which may result in increasing platform 100 associated revenue.

The platform 100 may be associated with customer service. Customerservice may facilitate a participant accessing and receiving serviceassociated with an interaction with the platform 100. In an example, auser interface to the platform 100 may support viewing and printingreceipts of all platform 100 transactions associated with the user. Thetransaction receipts provided by the platform 100 may include analternate offer 160 consolidator 180 name or ID, or may instead onlyshow the secondary offeror 148 information and the platform 100information, thereby making it easier for a user 154 to determine if thereceipt is the one desired.

Many questions asked by participants may have previously been answered.The platform 100 may be associated with at least a semi-automatedcustomer service that may provide automatic responses to know inquiriesby the users 154 and/or participants of the platform 100. Automating atleast a portion of the platform's 100 customer service interaction mayreduce costs. However, providing access to an administrator of theplatform 100 through a customer service interface may facilitate quick,high quality answers to questions not readily identified in thesemi-automated environment.

Providing information, such as offer redemption information, through theprimary transaction facility 114 or as part of a primary offer 164 mayinclude webpage based display, instruction download, emailing redemptioninstructions, and the like. A customer service system or interface ofthe platform 100 may facilitate a user 154 selecting how to receiveoffer redemption information for each transaction, for all transactions,for certain types of transaction, and the like. In an example, a user154 may select to always receive redemption instructions by email, whilealso selecting to receive download instructions associated with wirelessdevices through the wireless (e.g. cellular phone) network. In this waythe user 154 may select two or more non-conflicting ways of receivingoffer redemption information.

The alternative payment platform 100 may be associated with offerco-registration. Offer co-registration may facilitate a user registeringfor two or more offers and/or services simultaneously through theplatform 100. Co-registration may allow a user 154 to register for oneoffer, such as a primary offer 164, and simultaneously register for analternate offer 160 that facilitates making the primary offer 164 a freeoffer to the user 154. In an example, a user 154 may accept an alternateoffer 160 from Yahoo to signup for a Yahoo mail account to acquire theprimary offer 164. During signup, the user 154 may be presented withanother offer to join a mailing list to receive an upgraded Yahoo mailaccount for free. In another example, a user 154 may be registering topurchase a primary offer 164, such as computer software programs andmay, during signup, receive an offer (e.g. through a pop-up window) tojoin a free computer software club using the user registrationinformation and receiving the primary offer 164 for free. In theseexamples, co-registration may facilitate users gaining the advantages ofthe alternative payment platform 100, without having to seek out theplatform 100 through a primary offer checkout process.

Offers associated with co-registration may be selected based on one ormore data being input by the user. Alternatively, co-registration offersmay be based on the results of a secondary offeror auction offer bidding124 facility. In this way, a secondary offeror that desires to gainaccess to co-registration users, may bid high enough to be the highestbidder.

The platform 100 may be associated with extended email managementfacilities. Extended email facilities may include support for multipleemail templates, viewing text of sent mails, remailing users,mass-mailing users and/or vendors, defining additional email parameters,and other aspects of managing email associated with the platform 100.Extended email facilities may provide platform 100 administrators,facilitators 150, primary vendors 144, secondary offerors 148, and otherparticipants with beneficial capabilities, support, and tools to manageemail communication associated with the platform 100.

Extended email facilities may include support for multiple emailtemplates so that system level and/or vendor level email messages may beavailable in template form. Email templates may facilitate consistentcommunication of platform 100 or transaction related messages so thatemail recipients can readily discern the relevant aspects of themessage. Consistent email messaging may also contribute to a visualbrand associated with the platform 100 that may be included in the emailtemplates.

The following email template is only an example of one type of template.The syntax, structure, content, and all aspects of this template may bedifferent and any and all differences are herein included.

In the following Template 1, a facilitator 150, in this case referred toas TrialPay, fulfills delivery of primary offer 164, and the merchantprovides instructions on how to install the product. Placeholders,denoted by % sign are dynamic parameters that will be completed at runtime to personalize the email.

-   -   Dear %fname%,    -   Congratulations on successfully completing the TrialPay        Checkout.    -   To activate your copy of %productname 1%, please follow these        steps below:    -   1. Download %productname1% from %downloadURL1%    -   2. Install %productname1% on your computer    -   3. Use the following serial code to activate your version of        %serialcode1%    -   [repeat the above blocks if there are multiple products and        iterate on the placeholders in the form of %productname2%,        %serialcode2%, %downloadURL2%, etc]    -   For questions about your order and the offer you completed        through TrialPay, please reply to this email or contact TrialPay        at generalsupport@trialpay.com.    -   For technical questions about installation, downloading or        product usage, please contact %companyname% customer service:        %supportURL% or contact %supportEmail%.    -   [Insert additional merchant-specified instructions here]    -   Thanks,    -   The TrialPay Team

Extended email facilities may include support for viewing text of allmessages sent from the platform 100. Viewing text of message sent fromthe platform 100 may benefit platform 100 administrators, vendors, andusers in that all participants addressing a specific email content mayview the content as needed. A record, such as a log or audit trail ofemail messages sent by the platform 100 may be maintained and may bevisible to participants of the platform 100. The record of emailmessages may further include a link, such as a hyperlink to the contentof email messages in the email record log.

Extended email facilities may include support for re-mailing users. Toprovide high quality customer service, it may be beneficial to allow aplatform 100 administrator such as a customer service facilitator 150 toquickly and easily re-send an email message previously sent to a user154 by the platform 100. An interface of the platform 100, such as afacilitator interface 122 may include email re-sending capabilitythrough one or more menus of the interface. As elsewhere hereindescribed the facilitator interface 122 may support emailing users ofthe platform 100. Resending emails may be included in the facilitatorinterface 122 email facilities.

Extended email facilities of the alternative payment platform 100 mayinclude mass-emailing of users and/or vendors. Mass-mailing of users 154and/or vendors may include selecting users and/or merchants based oncriteria. The criteria may include alternate offer 160 activity, such asusers who may have recently selected a type of alternate offer 160 (e.g.movies) or may have a pending transaction or recent receipt for the typeof alternate offer 160. The criteria may include users 154 who have beendirected to the platform 100 through more than one merchant. Thecriteria may include users 154 who have reviewed but not selected one ormore types of alternate offer 160 (e.g. a user may have reviewed anentertainment offer but may have not selected the offer). These andother criteria may facilitate developing and delivering a mass emailingthat targets users 154 meeting the criteria. Because the mass email istargeted, it may have a greater chance of resulting in the user takingan action such as visiting the platform 100 or accepting an offer.Criteria may also be applied to mass emailing of vendors. Some examplesof vendor selection criteria for mass emailing include vendors who earnmore than $500 per month and are located in Germany, vendors who onlyuse email as their lead development source, vendors who are located inBrazil. Any information that may be available or acquired by theplatform 100 may be included in a mass email selection criteria forusers and/or vendors.

Extended email facilities may support defining additional emailparameters and/or introducing new variables to facilitate managing emailassociated with the platform 100. Additional parameters and newvariables may include introducing and supporting different emailsystems, interfacing the platform 100 email system with other aspects ofthe platform 100 such as accounting, transactions, and the like.Supporting defining new parameters may also facilitate introducingdifferent types of email usage in the future.

Referring to FIG. 16, in one preferred embodiment the methods andsystems disclosed herein may include a method of facilitating analternative payment platform 100 that includes steps of selectingalternate offers 160 at a step 1602, presenting alternate offers 160 ata step 1604, receiving an indication of acceptance by a user 154 of analternate offer 160 (such as an indication of the user's engagement withan advertiser 148) at a step 1608, paying a primary offeror 1610 whooffered an item received by the user 154 and providing a credit to thefacilitator at a step 1612. Such methods and systems may include:selecting one or more alternate offers 160 to pay for an item 182associated with a primary offer 164; presenting the selected alternatepayment offers to a user 154; receiving an indication of acceptance ofone of the alternate payment offers; and in response thereto receivingpayment for presenting the accepted offer, and providing payment to theofferor of the primary offer 164.

In embodiments the indication of acceptance is received from the user154. In embodiments the indication of acceptance is received from thevendor of the alternative payment offer. In embodiments the payment forthe primary offer 164 is a negotiated amount. In embodiments thenegotiation is between a host of alternative payment offers and theprimary offer merchant 144 or the alternate offer advertiser 148. Inembodiments the payment for the primary offer 164 is a variable amount.In embodiments the amount varies based on: the accepted alternate offer160; a count of primary offer payments; lifetime value or quality of theuser completing the alternate offer 160; location of the user (e.g.,foreign users may be worth less to advertisers); a credit score of user;a spending capacity of the user; the propensity of user to spend; thepropensity of the user 154 to use an alternate offer 160; loyalty of theuser 154 to the alternate offer 160; type of alternate offer completed;number of alternate offers completed; relationship of primary vendor 144to the host of the alternative payment platform 100 or the like. Suchmethods and systems may include fulfilling the primary offer or thealternate offer, such as by delivering an item or items.

In embodiments receiving an indication of user 154 acceptance of one ofthe alternate payment offers includes receiving a confirmation of useracceptance to the accepted offer vendor. In embodiments receivingpayment for presenting the accepted offer is in response to deliveringan indication of the user acceptance of the accepted offer to theaccepted offer vendor.

Referring to FIG. 17, in one preferred embodiment the methods andsystems disclosed herein may include a method of facilitating analternative payment platform 100 that includes steps of identifying aset of alternate offers 160 to a primary offer 164 at a step 1702,selecting an optimized offer at a step 1704 and presenting one or moreoptimized alternate offers 160 to a user 154 at a step 1708.

In embodiments optimizing is based on anticipated benefit to a partyassociated with at least one of the alternate offers 160, wherein theparty is a primary offeror 144, a user 154, a facilitator 150, or asecondary offeror 148. In embodiments the optimized relationship isbased on a metric associated with the quality of a user. In embodimentsthe optimized relationship is based on maximizing participation in asecondary offering. In embodiments the relationships comprisesuitability of the offers to a user 154 associated with the primaryoffering.

In embodiments optimizing is based on an expected profit associated withpresenting the one or more identified offers: wherein the expectedprofit is based on the identified offers; wherein the expected profit isfor the primary vendor 144; wherein the expected profit is for the hostof the alternative payment platform 100; wherein the expected profit isfor the secondary offeror 148; and wherein the expected profit is for aweighted combination of the profit for at least two of the primaryofferor 144, the host of the alternative payment platform 100, the user154, and the secondary offeror 148.

In embodiments optimizing is based on user demographics. In embodimentsuser demographics are provided by a primary offeror or vendor 144 or bythe user 154. In embodiments the user demographics include a userlocation. In embodiments the demographics include an IP address.

In embodiments the user demographics include at least one of userconnection speed and user browser type. In embodiments optimizing isbased on historic transactions associated with a primary vendor orofferor 144. In embodiments the historic transactions include selectionof alternate offers 160. In embodiments optimizing is based on a URLassociated with the primary offer 164. In embodiments optimizingincludes reducing adverse selection. In embodiments an automatic processselects the alternate offer 160 from a plurality of alternate offers160. In embodiments the automatic process is an optimization processthat is directed at optimizing a parameter that is associated with thealternate offer 160. In embodiments the parameter is a measurement ofuser interest in the alternate offer 160. In embodiments the parameterrepresents at least one of network traffic, a conversion rate measuringa proportion of users 154 who accept the alternate offer 160, overallprofit of a transaction, payout amount, and total volume of completedalternate offers 160.

Referring to FIG. 18, in one preferred embodiment methods and systemsare provided herein for providing a user interface to an alternatepayment platform 100. Such methods and systems may include, in anenvironment in which a user 154 is presented with a primary offer 164,providing an interface 1802 that allows a user to view at least onealternate offer 160. Such methods and systems may include identifying analternative form of payment for the primary offer 164; presenting analternate offer 160 from at least one secondary offeror 148; and uponuser 154 selection of an alternate offer 160, providing an interface1802 by which a user 154 commits (such as via a response 158 to thealternate offer 160) to satisfy an obligation with respect to theselected alternate offer 160 the satisfaction of which will entitle theuser to obtain an item 182 offered in the primary offer 164. Inembodiments the user interface 1802 may maintain the same appearance asthe environment of the primary offer 164.

In embodiments the interface maintains the same ecommerce environment ofthe primary offer 164. In embodiments the alternate offers 160 areranked. In embodiments presenting the alternate offers 160 includespromoting a visual prominence of the higher ranked alternate offers 160.In embodiments the highest ranked offer is presented to influence theuser 154, such as toward selecting the highest ranked offer. Inembodiments the interface 1802 includes presenting real-time status ofthe user's 154 acceptance of the alternate offer 160. In embodiments theinterface 1802 allows a user 154 to view the user's activity associatedwith prior primary offers 164. In embodiments the interface 1802 allowsa user 154 to view the user's 154 activity associated with prioralternate offers 160. In embodiments the interface 1802 allows a user154 to view a receipt of a primary offer 164, an alternate offer 160,and an association there between. In embodiments, upon satisfaction ofthe obligation, methods and systems may include providing an interface1802 by which the fulfillment of the primary offer 164 is initiated. Inembodiments fulfilling the primary offer 164 includes at least one ofdownloading digital content to the user 154 and providing access to apremium service. Methods and systems may further include activating atleast one of the digital content and the premium service. In embodimentsfulfilling the primary offer 164 includes receiving a mailing address ofthe user 154 for delivery of the primary offer 164.

Referring to FIG. 19, in one preferred embodiment the methods andsystems disclosed herein may include methods and systems for electronictransaction discounting, such methods and systems including: at a step1902, receiving a request to present discount offers for a primary offer164, and in response thereto; at a step 1904 selecting one or morediscount offers based on aspects of at least one of the primary offer164, the request, and the discount offers; at a step 1908 presenting theselected discount offers to a user 154; at a step 1910 receiving a user154 acceptance of one of the discount offers; including at a step 1912receiving a method of payment; and at a step 1914 in response theretofacilitating disbursement of the payment among the primary offeror 144and the discount offeror. In embodiments of such methods and systems theprimary offer 164 payment adjustment is a discount percent. Inembodiments of such methods and systems the primary offer 164 paymentadjustment is a predetermined reduction amount. In embodiments of suchmethods and systems facilitating using the method of payment includesproviding the method of payment to an accepted discount offer vendor. Inembodiments of such methods and systems facilitating the method ofpayment includes relaying credit card information of the user 154. Incertain such embodiments facilitating the method of payment includesobtaining permission to use the credit card information for the primaryoffer 164 and the discount offer. In embodiments facilitating using themethod of payment includes providing the method of payment to a primaryofferor 144. Methods and systems may further include providing adiscount amount to the primary offeror 144. In certain such embodimentsthe user 154 may accept a plurality of discount offers to increase thediscount amount.

Referring to FIG. 20, methods and systems disclosed herein may includemethods and systems for facilitating alternate payment offer bidding.Such methods and systems may include: at a step 2002 providing aplatform for presenting secondary offers as an alternative to paymentfor a primary offer 164; at a step 2004 receiving a bid for presentingthe alternate offer 160, wherein the bid includes placement attributes;at a step 2006 associating the placement attributes with at least one ofthe primary offer 164 and a user related to the primary offer 164; at astep 2008 determining a placement of the alternate offer 160 based onthe association of the placement attributes and a bid amount; and at astep 2010 displaying the alternate offer 160 in the determined placementin the presentation of alternate offers 160. In embodiments theplacement attributes include at least one of a user attribute,characteristic or property, a location of placement, a time ofplacement, a size of placement, and proximity of placement to anotheroffer. In various embodiments, bids may be for user properties (or acombination of such properties) and placement is the outcome of thosebids. If advertisers bid on a “generic” user 154, in effect they arebidding on placement.

FIG. 21 shows a basic method of providing an alternate payment platform100. Such alternative payment methods and systems may include: at a step2102 providing a platform for presenting an alternate offer 160 to auser 154; and at a step 2104 receiving an indication of the user's 154acceptance of the alternate offer 160. In embodiments the user's 154acceptance of terms of the alternate offer 160 comprises an alternativeto a payment. In embodiments the payment is for a primary offer 164,wherein the user's acceptance comprises a commitment to satisfy anobligation with respect to the alternate offer 160.

FIG. 22 shows a basic alternative payment platform 100 for supportingmethods and systems disclosed herein. Such alternative payment methodsand systems may include: at a step 2204, associating a plurality ofalternate offers 160 from a plurality of primary offerors 144 with aprimary offer 164 for an item 182, at least one such alternate offer 160allowing an alternative form of payment for the item 182; and at a step2208 selecting an alternate offer 160 to present in association with theprimary offer 164, wherein such selection is based on at least one ofthe timing 2210 and the context 2212 of the primary offer 164. Inembodiments the context 2212 relates to at least one of the user's 154past transactions for the item offered in the primary offer 164, pastcommunications received by the user 154 in connection with the primaryoffer 164, the user's 154 past transactions with respect to an itemassociated with an alternate offer 160, the demographics of the user154, an action of the user 154 with respect to the primary offer 164,the content of a page on which the user 154 views the primary offer 164,and the communication medium used to deliver the primary offer 164. Inembodiments the timing 2212 relates to at least one of the sequence ofcommunications by which the user 154 was presented with the primaryoffer 164 and the amount of time during which the user 154 has viewedthe primary offer 164.

FIG. 23 shows steps associated with methods and systems for optimizinguser value associated with an alternate payment platform 100. Suchmethods and systems may include: at a step 2302 identifying a set ofalternate offers 160; at a step 2304 determining an attribute of uservalue associated with at least one of the alternate offers 160; and at astep 2306 presenting the one or more identified offers based on the uservalue attribute. In embodiments the relationship is the likelihood ofthe user accepting an offer. In embodiments the user value is a value toa secondary offeror 148. In embodiments the optimized relationship isrelated to the secondary offeror payment amount. In embodiments the uservalue is a lifetime user value. The embodiment may further includeadjusting one or more aspects of the identified offers based on the uservalue. In embodiments the determination of a user value includescomparing the user value to an alternate offer 160 threshold. Inembodiments in response to the determination exceeding the alternateoffer 160 threshold, the alternate offer 160 is included in apresentation of alternate offers 160 to the user. The embodiment mayfurther include determining a payment to a primary vendor 144 based onuser value. In various other embodiments, optimization may be based onany of the optimization factors described throughout this disclosure,including the factors described in connection with FIG. 17.

FIG. 24 depicts methods and systems for supporting differentiation ofusers 154 use of an alternative payment platform 100 with one or more ofthe attributes described throughout this disclosure, such as based onthe comparative value different users ascribe to various primary offers164 and alternate offers 160. Such methods and systems may include: at astep 2402 presenting a primary offer 164 to a plurality of users 154 fora predetermined price; at a step 2404 presenting alternate paymentoffers to the users 154, wherein the alternate payment offers comprise apayment for the primary offer 164; at a step 2406 receiving acceptanceof the alternate payment offers from the plurality of users 154; and inresponse thereto at a step 2408 paying a variable amount for the primaryoffer 164 based on an attribute of at least one of the plurality ofusers 154, wherein the variable amount is lower for a first user 154than a second user 154 among the plurality of users 154, such as basedon an estimate of the comparative value each such user attributes to theprimary offer 164 or one or more alternate offers 160. In embodimentsthe estimate of comparative value used to determine the variable amountmay be based on various factors, such as any of the optimization factorsdescribed throughout this disclosure, including user demographics, userlocation, user psychographics, past transactions executed by a user, orthe like. In embodiments the variable amount paid for each user 154 ofthe plurality of users 154 is based on the user 154 location. Inembodiments the variability of the amount is not disclosed to theplurality of users 154.

FIG. 25 shows a method of anonymous offer fulfillment associated with analternative payment platform 100. Such methods and systems may include:at a step 2502 receiving a user 154 request for alternate payment of aprimary offer 164; at a step 2504 determining a value of the primaryoffer 164; at a step 2506 identifying alternate offers 160 based on theprimary offer 164 value; at a step 2506 including the identifiedalternate offers 160 in a presentation of offers; at a step 2510receiving an indication of the user's acceptance of a presentedalternate offer 160 and in response; at a step 2512 providing paymentfor the primary offer 164; and at a step 2514 facilitating anonymouspayment of the primary offer 164 to the user 154. In embodiments suchmethods and systems are performed in the absence of an initial userrequest. Such methods and systems may further include securely recordingan association of the accepted offer and the primary offer 164 with theuser providing access to the recorded association to a third party. Inembodiments the user is a minor and the third party is the minor's legalguardian. In embodiments the third party is financially responsible forthe user's acceptance of the presented offer.

FIG. 26 depicts steps for a method of providing digital credit accountsassociated with an alternative payment platform 100. Such methods andsystems may include various steps, including: at a step 2602 performinga transaction associated with acquiring an item 182 offered in a primaryoffer 164 through an alternate payment platform 100; at a step 2604crediting digital credits for the transaction to a user digital accountassociated with the platform 100; and at a step 2606 exchanging thedigital credits in association with an alternate payment platformtransaction.

In embodiments primary offerors 144 provide digital credits. Inembodiments providing digital credits is based on value of a primaryoffer 164. In embodiments the primary offer 164 value is an aggregationof primary offer transactions associated with the user digital account.In embodiments secondary offerors 148 provide digital credits. Inembodiments providing digital credits is based on an alternate offer 160value. In embodiments the primary offer 164 value is an aggregation ofalternate offer 160 transactions associated with the user 154 digitalaccount. In embodiments the digital credits are exchanged for at leastof one of free shipping, upgraded shipping, customization, a product, aservice, a service extension, and the like. In embodiments the digitalcredits are exchanged for an item 182 associated with a primary offer164. In embodiments the exchanged digital credits comprise a portion ofthe primary offer 164 price. In embodiments the user 154 may exchangethe digital credits in association with a future transaction.

FIG. 27 depicts a method and system of service extension associated withan alternative payment platform 100. Such a methods and systems mayinclude: at a step 2702 receiving an indication of service expiration(such indication possibly occurring in advance), and in response theretoat a step 2704 identifying a plurality of alternate offers 160, thecompletion of which will allow the user 154 to extend the service; at astep 2706 presenting the plurality of alternate offers 160 to a user 154of the service; and at a step 2710 extending the service, extension ofthe service being based on the user 154 indicating a commitment at astep 2708 to satisfy an obligation related to one of the plurality ofpresented alternate offers 160. In embodiments at least one of thealternate offers 160 allows a user to satisfy a non-monetary obligationas a basis for extending the service.

FIG. 28 shows a method of fulfilling transactions associated with analternate payment platform 100. Such methods and systems may include: ata step 2802 receiving an indication of user 154 interest in a primaryoffer 164; at a step 2804 identifying at least one alternative paymentoffer 160 for the primary offer 164; at a step 2806 including thealternative payment offer 160 in a presentation of offers; at a step2808 receiving the user's 154 claim of acceptance of a presentedalternative payment offer 160; at a step 2810 assessing the user's 154claim; and at least one of (a) at a step 2812 accepting the user's 154claim and crediting the user 154 with the primary offer 164 and (b) at astep 2814 denying the user's 154 claim. Such methods and systems mayinclude receiving confirmation of the user's 154 acceptance of thealternative payment offer 160.

In embodiments assessment of the user's 154 claim is based on at leastone of: the user's 154 history of transactions; the user's 154demographic data; the user's 154 location; the characteristics of theprimary offer 164; and the characteristics of the alternate offer 160,or any of the factors described throughout this disclosure, such as thefactors used to optimize offers as described in connection with FIG. 17.

FIG. 29 depicts a method of preventing fraud, using an alternativepayment platform 100. Such methods and systems may include: at a step2902 receiving an indication of user 154 interest in a primary offer164; at a step 2904 identifying alternate offers 160 that allow the user154 to obtain a benefit associated with the primary offer 164; at a step2906 including the identified alternate offers 160 in a presentation ofoffers; at a step 2908 receiving an indication of the user's 154acceptance of a presented alternate offer 160; at a step 2910 assessingthe likelihood of the user 154 fulfilling an obligation with respect toan alternate offer 160; and upon a negative assessment, at a step 2912withholding completion of a transaction. Upon a positive assessment, thesystem may at a step 2914 complete the transaction. In embodiments thealternate offer 160 is an alternative payment offer 160. In embodimentswithholding completion is based on an assessment of probability offraudulent activity. In embodiments assessment of the user's 154 claimis based on at least one of: the user's 154 history of transactions; theuser's 154 demographic data; the user's 154 location; thecharacteristics of the primary offer 164; and the characteristics of thealternate offer 160. In other embodiments the assessment is based on anyof the factors disclosed herein, including, without limitation, any ofthe factors used to optimize offers as disclosed in connection with FIG.17.

FIG. 30 shows an interface 3002 of a primary offeror 164, into whichalternate offers 160 are made available, as facilitated by a facilitator150 of an alternative payment platform 100. Here the method of thealternative payment platform 100 is presented in the ecommerceenvironment of the primary offeror 164. The interface 3002 shows acheckout page of a website, in which the user 154 is presented with anopportunity to get an item 182 associated with a primary offer 164 (inthis case an email program) for free by engaging with the alternativepayment platform 100. The user 154 is prompted to start checkout, tochoose an alternate offer 160 and is promised the item 182 for free.

The methods and systems disclosed herein may be implemented in a varietyof environments, including electronic commerce environments. In suchenvironments, various user interfaces assist in such implementation.FIG. 31 et seq. depict certain embodiments of such user interfaces. FIG.31 shows a screen 3102 where a user 154 may arrive upon indicatinginterest in engaging with the alternative payment platform 100. The user154 is prompted to enter details about the user 154 and is provided withinformation about how the alternative payment platform 100 operates.

FIG. 32 shows a user interface screen 3202 where a user can viewalternate offers 160 that are presented by the alternate paymentplatform 100. A user can select a preferred alternate offer 160.

FIG. 33 shows a user 154 interface screen 3302 where a user 154 hasselected a particular alternate offer 160 (in this case committing totry the American Express card) and in exchange the user 154 is promisedto receive the email program item 182 for free.

FIG. 34 shows a user interface screen 3402 shown to a user 154 while thealternative payment platform 100 relays notification of acceptance of analternate offer 160. During this step, an alternate offer 160 thatrequires approval after acceptance by a user 154 may initiate anapproval step. Otherwise, the platform 100 may initiate the steps, asdescribed above, associated with completion of the alternate offer 160.

FIG. 35 shows a screen 3502 showing a notice a user 154 receives uponcompletion of registration with the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 36 shows a user interface screen 3602 shown to a user 154 withdetails as to how a user 154 may complete an alternate offer 160, inthis case involving the opportunity to obtain an email program.

FIG. 37 shows a user interface screen 3702 shown to a user 154 withadditional details as to how a user may complete an alternate offer 160to obtain an item 182 associated with a primary offer 164.

FIG. 38 shows a screen 3802 where a user 154 may log in to thealternative payment platform 100. A user 154 is prompted to enter ane-mail address and password to log in. Otherwise, a first time user 154or user 154 who has forgotten the user's 154 password is prompted to geta new password.

FIG. 39 shows a screen 3902 shown to a user 154 who has completed analternate offer 160. The user interface screen 3902 presents theopportunity to activate an item 182 associated with the primary offer164 with respect to which the alternate offer 160 is associated.

FIG. 40 shows a screen 4002 shown to a user 154 who has alternate offers160 pending. The screen provides the user 154 details of the user's 154pending alternate offers 160.

FIG. 41 shows a screen 4102 shown to a user 154 who has completed analternate offer 160 but who has not received credit for the completedalternate offer 160. A user 154 is prompted to submit a receiptverifying the completed alternate offer 160.

FIG. 42 shows a screen 4202 shown to a user 154 who has completed analternate offer 160 but who has not received credit for the completedalternate offer 160. A user 154 is prompted to submit a receiptverifying the completed alternate offer 160. The screen 4202 prompts theuser 154 to provide details of the completed alternate offer 160.

FIG. 43 shows a screen 4302 where a user 154 may update the user'saccount information.

FIG. 44 shows a screen 4402 where a user 154 may change the user'spassword.

FIG. 45 shows a user interface screen 4502 of a primary offer 164, intowhich alternate offers 160 are made available. Here the method of thealternative payment platform 100 is presented as a free download of theitem 182. The interface screen 4502 shows a page of a website, in whichthe user 154 is presented with an opportunity to download an item 182associated with a primary offer 164 (in this case an evaluation versionof software) for free by engaging with the alternative payment platform100. The user is prompted to select an alternate offer 160 and ispromised the item 182 for free.

FIG. 46 shows a user interface screen 4602 of a primary offer 164, intowhich alternate offers 160 are made available. Here the method of thealternative payment platform 100 is presented as an opportunity toupgrade from a free version to a premium version of an item 182 before auser 154 downloads the free version of the item 182. The interfacescreen 4602 shows a page of a website, in which the user 154 ispresented with an opportunity to proceed to the alternative paymentplatform 100 or to select an alternate offer 160.

FIG. 47 shows a user interface screen 4702 of a primary offer 164, intowhich alternate offers 160 are made available. Here the method of thealternative payment platform 100 is presented as an opportunity toupgrade from free basic accounts to premium accounts.

FIG. 48 shows a user interface screen 4802 of a primary offer 164 wherea user 154 is presented with an alternate offer 160 when a user 154backs out or cancels out of a primary offer 164 shopping cart web page.

FIG. 49 shows a user interface screen 4902 of a primary offer 164 wherea user 154 is presented with an alternate offer 160 when a user 154removes items from a primary offer 164 shopping cart.

FIG. 50 shows a user interface screen 5002 of a primary offer 164 wherea user 154 is presented with an alternate offer 160 when a user 154completes a transaction or, in this case, has sent an e-card.

FIG. 51 shows a user interface screen 5102 of a primary offer 164 wherea user 154 is presented with an alternate offer 160 when a user 154clicks to download a free version.

FIG. 52 shows a user interface screen 5202 of a primary offer 164, intowhich alternate offers 160 are made available. Here the method of thealternative payment 100 is presented along with other payment methodoffers from the primary offeror 144. The interface 5202 shows a page ofa website, in which the user 154 is presented with an opportunity to getan item 182 associated with a primary offer 164 (in this case a softwareprogram) for free by engaging with the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 53 shows another example of a user interface screen 5302 of aprimary offer 164, into which alternate offers 160 are made available.Here also the method of the alternative payment 100 is presented alongwith other payment method offers from the primary offeror 144. Theinterface 5302 shows a page of a website, in which the user 154 ispresented with an opportunity to get an item 182 associated with aprimary offer 164 (in this case an online gaming platform) for free byengaging with the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 54 shows an example of a user interface screen 5402 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available toprevious users of a primary offeror 144 (in this case, in an e-mailcampaign to existing primary offeror 144 users). Here the method of thealternative payment is presented along with a notification from theprimary offeror 144 alerting the user 154 that the user's 154 trialperiod is expiring. The interface 5402 shows an e-mail notification, inwhich the user 154 is presented with an opportunity to get an item 182associated with a primary offer 164 (in this case spyware software) forfree by engaging with the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 55 shows an example of a user interface screen 5502 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available toprevious users of a primary offeror 144 (in this case, in an e-mailcampaign to existing primary offeror 144 users). Here the method of thealternative payment 100 is presented along with an alternate offer 160from the primary offeror 164 notifying the user 154 that the user's 154subscription is expiring. The interface 5502 shows an e-mailnotification, in which the user 154 is presented with an opportunity toget an item 182 associated with a primary offer 164 (in this case asubscription to Zagat.com) for free by engaging with the alternativepayment platform 100.

FIG. 56 shows an example of a user interface screen 5602 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available in ane-mail campaign by a primary offeror 144 (in this case, in a holidayoffer to potential users). Here the method of the alternative payment100 is presented along with an alternate offer 160 from the primaryofferor 144 relating to holiday offers. The interface 5602 shows ane-mail notification, in which the user 154 is presented with anopportunity to get an item 182 associated with a primary offer 164 (inthis case a subscription to Winzip) for free by engaging with thealternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 57 shows an example of a user interface screen 5702 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available when aprimary offeror 144 sends automated account setup e-mails. Here themethod of the alternative payment 100 is presented in an e-mailnotification verifying that the user 154 has set up an account with theprimary offeror 144. The interface 5702 shows an e-mail account setupnotification, in which the user 154 is presented with an opportunity toget an item 182 associated with a primary offer 164 (in this case anupgrade to a photosharing site) for free by engaging with thealternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 58 shows an example of a user interface screen 5802 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available when aprimary offeror 144 sends an order confirmation. Here the method of thealternative payment 100 is presented when the user 154 receivesconfirmation that the user's 154 order has been placed. The interface5802 shows an order confirmation, in which the user 154 is presentedwith an opportunity to get an item 182 associated with a primary offer164 (in this case an offer to extend a domain) for free by engaging withthe alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 59 shows an example of a user interface screen 5902 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available within aprimary offeror's 144 product. Here the method of the alternativepayment 100 is presented to the user 154 in-product or on a webpagepopup detailing the alternate offer 160; on a screen reminding the user154 that the user's 154 trial is almost over; and/or on the main productinterface, reminding the user 154 of the alternate offer 160.

FIG. 60 shows an example of a user interface screen 6002 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made availablein-product to users of a primary offeror 144 when their trial periodexpires. Here the method of the alternative payment 100 is presentedin-product along with a notification from the primary offeror 144alerting the user 154 that the user's 154 trial period is expiring. Theinterface 6002 shows an in-product notification, in which the user 154is presented with an opportunity to get an item 182 associated with aprimary offer 164 (in this case Corel software) for free by engagingwith the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 61 shows an example of a user interface screen 6102 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made availablein-product to users of a primary offeror 144 when the user isuninstalling the primary offeror's 144 product. Here the method of thealternative payment 100 is presented in an automated popup screen, whichappears when the user is uninstalling the primary offeror's 164 product.The interface 6102 shows a popup screen, in which the user 154 ispresented with an opportunity to get an item 182 associated with aprimary offer 164 (in this case an online game) for free by engagingwith the alternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 62 shows an example of a user interface screen 6202 of a primaryoffer 164, into which an alternate offer 160 is made available tofree-level users of a primary offeror 144. Here the method of thealternative payment 100 is presented in a notification to users of theprimary offeror's 144 product sent to the user after the user wasupgraded to the latest version of the software. The interface 6202 showsa notification, in which the user 154 is presented with an opportunityto get an item 182 associated with a primary offer 144 (in this case anupgraded version of a software product) for free by engaging with thealternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 63 shows a screen 6302 shown to an advertiser 148 by which anadvertiser 148 or secondary offeror 148 may track performance ofalternate offers 160 offered through the alternative payment platform100. An advertiser 148 may track the clicks associated with eachalternate offer 160, the conversions of users 154 with respect to eachalternate offer 160 and other statistics associated with each alternateoffer 160.

FIG. 64 shows a screen 6402 with additional details as to the interface6402 of FIG. 63.

FIG. 65 shows a screen 6502 shown to an advertiser 148 with statisticsas to performance of an alternate offer 160 offered through thealternative payment platform 100. A report may provide transactiondetail as to each transaction entered into by a user 154 with respect toeach alternate offer 160.

FIG. 66 shows a screen 6602 where a user 154 is shown a detailedtransaction report associated with performance of an alternate offer 160offered by an advertiser or secondary offeror 148 through thealternative payment platform 100.

FIG. 67 shows a screen 6702 where an advertiser is shown a detailedreported associated with the advertisers performance of alternate offers160 offered by an advertiser through the alternative payment platform.

In various embodiments, including any of the preferred embodimentsdisclosed above and throughout this disclosure, a variety of otherfeatures, attributes, characteristics, steps, components, modules andthe like may be provided in accordance with the methods and systemsdisclosed herein. Thus, except where context indicates otherwise, in anyof the embodiments described herein, features such as the following maybe provided. In embodiments the alternate form of payment is anon-monetary payment. In embodiments the non-monetary payment includes acommitment to undertake an action. In embodiments the action isundertaking a trial of another item. In embodiments the commitment needsto be fulfilled before the primary offer 164 is fulfilled. Inembodiments the primary offer 164 comprises a micro-payment transaction.In embodiments the primary offer 164 is fulfilled by a download ofdigital content. The embodiment may further include accumulatingtransaction credits associated with secondary offer 160 acceptance; andsurrendering at least one of the transaction credits as an alternativepayment for the micro-payment. In embodiments the primary offercomprises virtual currency. In embodiments the secondary offer 160comprises virtual currency. In embodiments the alternate payment offer160 comprises a complete payment for the primary offering. Inembodiments the payment to the primary vendor 144 is made prior toconfirmation of the user 154 acceptance of the secondary offer 160. Inembodiments the payment to the primary vendor 144 is made based on acomparison of the payment to a payment threshold. In embodiments thealternate payment offers 160 are based at least in part on a geographiclocation of the user 154.

In embodiments financial terms associated with fulfillment of thealternate offer 160 is based on the user geographic location. Inembodiments financial terms associated with fulfillment of the primaryoffer is based on the user 154 geographic location. In embodiments thealternate offers 160 are presented in response to a user declining aprimary offer. In embodiments the alternate offers 160 are presented inresponse to a user 154 uninstalling digital content. In embodiments thealternate offers 160 are presented for a user to upgrade a primaryoffering 164. In embodiments the alternate offers 160 are presentedwithin a computer game environment. In embodiments the upgrade is accessto selected levels in a computer game. In embodiments the alternateoffers 160 are related to the primary offer 164. In embodiments theobligation is an obligation to enter a promotional program with respectto the secondary offering 148. In embodiments the obligation is toundertake an online action. In embodiments the online action includesviewing an item of content. In embodiments the online action includesvisiting a website. In embodiments the online action is selected fromthe group consisting of submitting at least one on-line auction bid,submitting at least one winning on-line auction bid, placing at leastone item for sale through an on-line auction, submitting demographicinformation, providing an email address, completing a creditapplication, and making at least one purchase.

In embodiments the obligation is to undertake an offline action. Inembodiments the offline action includes receiving a phone call. Inembodiments the offline action includes signing up for telephoneservice. In embodiments the offline action includes visiting a retaillocation. In embodiments the offline action includes applying for aloan. In embodiments the alternate offer 160 is based on an upcomingevent. In embodiments the event is at least one of Valentines Day,Thanksgiving, mother's day, father's day, Memorial day, July 4^(th), andthe like. In embodiments the event is related to the user 154. Inembodiments the user 154 related event is at least one of a birthday, ananniversary, a marriage, a new baby, a promotion, and the like. Inembodiments accepting the alternate offer 160 has a lower financial costto the user 154 than directly paying for the primary offering. Inembodiments accepting the alternate offer 160 has a higher financialcost to the user 154 than directly paying for the primary offering. Inembodiments the alternate offer 160 is associated with a fulfillmentprocess. In embodiments the fulfillment process includes providing asecondary offering 148 to the user 154. In embodiments the secondaryoffering 148 is a physical object. In embodiments the primary offeringis not a physical object. In embodiments the primary offering converts atrial copy of software to a full version of software. In embodiments theprimary offering is selected from the group consisting of a product, aservice, a good, a premium good, a wine club subscription, a softwarepackage, an online service, a subscription-based offering, anewspaper/magazine/professional subscription, an offering with aone-time purchase price, or the like. In embodiments a secondaryoffering 148 is selected from the group consisting of a product, aservice, a good, a premium good, a wine club, a software package, anonline service, a subscription-based offering, anewspaper/magazine/professional subscription, an offering with aone-time purchase price or the like.

Methods and systems may include identifying a plurality of alternateoffers 160 that correspond to a primary offer 164, the alternate offers160 allowing an alternative form of payment for the same item as theprimary offer 164. In embodiments the alternate offers 160 are offersfrom a plurality of providers. Methods and systems may include providinga transaction facility for resolving fulfillment of an alternate offer160 if the user 154 accepts the alternate offer 160. In embodiments thetransaction facility is adapted to fulfill alternate offers 160 of aplurality of merchants. Methods and systems may include first presentingthe alternate offer 160 to the user 154. Methods and systems may furtherinclude initiating a primary fulfillment process, upon receiving theuser's 154 acceptance. In embodiments the primary fulfillment process isassociated with delivering the primary offering to the user. Methods andsystems may further include initiating a secondary fulfillment process,upon receiving the user's 154 acceptance. In embodiments the secondaryfulfillment process is associated with delivering the alternate offer160 to the user 154. Methods and systems may include initiating apayment process for both debiting a secondary entity and crediting aprimary entity. In embodiments the secondary entity is associated withthe alternate offer 160 and the primary entity is associated with theprimary offer 164.

In embodiments the primary entity is a vendor, retailer, seller, dealer,trader, purveyor, merchant, advertiser, sales person, affiliate,supplier, service provider, or the like. In embodiments the secondaryentity is a vendor, retailer, seller, dealer, trader, purveyor,merchant, sales person, affiliate, supplier, service provider, or thelike. In embodiments the continued use of the primary product is tied tothe continued use of the alternate offer 160. In embodimentscancellation of the alternate offer 160 results in automaticcancellation of the primary offer 164. The embodiment may furtherinclude charging the user for the primary offer, and upon receipt ofconfirmation of the user acceptance of the alternate offer 160 creditingthe user a predetermined amount.

In embodiments the user 154 provides a method of payment for automaticpayment at expiration of the trial period.

In embodiments the participation comprises completing a survey. Inembodiments the participation comprises applying for a credit card.

In embodiments acceptance of the alternate payment offer 160 obligatesthe user 154 to fulfill a purchase associated with the alternate paymentoffer 160.

All of the elements of the alternative payment platform 100 may bedepicted throughout the figures with respect to logical boundariesbetween the elements. According to software or hardware engineeringpractices, the modules that are depicted may in fact be implemented asindividual modules. However, the modules may also be implemented in amore monolithic fashion, with logical boundaries not so clearly definedin the source code, object code, hardware logic, or hardware modulesthat implement the modules. All such implementations are within thescope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the various steps identified and describedabove may be varied, and that the order of steps may be changed to suitparticular applications of the techniques disclosed herein. All suchvariations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope ofthis disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description of an orderfor various steps should not be understood to require a particular orderof execution for those steps, unless required by a particularapplication, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear from the context.

It will be appreciated that the above processes, and steps thereof, maybe realized in hardware, software, or any combination of these suitablefor a particular application. The hardware may include a general purposecomputer and/or dedicated computing device. The processes may berealized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable device, along with internal and/or external memory. Theprocesses may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specificintegrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic,or any other device that may be configured to process electronicsignals. It will further be appreciated that the process may be realizedas computer executable code created using a structured programminglanguage such as C, an object oriented programming language such as C++,or any other high-level or low-level programming language (includingassembly languages, hardware description languages, and databaseprogramming languages and technologies) that may be stored, compiled orinterpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well as heterogeneouscombinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations ofdifferent hardware and software. At the same time, processing may bedistributed across a camera system and/or a computer in a number ofways, or all of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated,standalone image capture device or other hardware. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

It will also be appreciated that means for performing the stepsassociated with the processes described above may include any of thehardware and/or software described above. In another aspect, eachprocess, including individual process steps described above andcombinations thereof, may be embodied in computer executable code that,when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the stepsthereof.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, other embodiments will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art, and all such variations, modifications, andsubstitutions are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.Thus, the invention is to be understood in the broadest sense allowableby law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. An alternate payment method comprising: providing a platform forpresenting an alternate offer to a user who is engaged with a primaryoffer; and receiving an indication of the user's engagement with thealternate offer, wherein the user's engagement with the alternate offerserves as an alternative form of payment for an item associated with theprimary offer.